Jeffrey Free Luers writes, "Alongside protecting the wild and fostering respect for our planet, one of the tenets of this movement is creating a sustainable future for our communities. In doing so, we must develop communities that have the ability to provide food, water, sanitation, resources and energy in a decentralized and autonomous manner.

"We use energy everyday. It is easy to dismiss our use of electricity with romantic notions of primitivism or ismantling the capitalist system by dismantling the electric grid. But, these thoughts do not reflect the reality that over a third of all energy use in this country is residential.

"Residential buildings alone consume 35% of all electricity in the U.S. Of that, water heaters account for 15-30% of a households total energy consumption. Then there is lighting, computers, and appliances that consume energy even when not in use.

"Even if people were willing to stop using computers and the internet, willing to stop taking hot showers, or cooking on a stove, and willing to start washing clothes by hand -- something I highly doubt, considering dedicated and hardline radicals have failed to make these changes -- we would still need a source of energy." Read more