Peak Oil Review – May 14
An executive summary of weekly news from a peak oil perspective.
Also, a commentary by Matthew R. Simmons: “Gasoline Picture Looking Grim for Dog Days of Summer.”
Society
The sustainable marriage
I’ve heard over and over about marriages struggling when partners have different ideas about the right thing to do about peak oil/sustainability/climate change. There are real and serious reasons that people are better off going into hard times with stable marriages and good support systems.
Dysfunction – May 10
Texas House favors gas tax break
40 percent of babies watch TV, study finds
Review of Consumed by Benjamin Barber
Religion and peak oil: The next spirituality
Whatever religion or combination of religions rises to prominence as industrial society slides down the far side of Hubbert’s peak, the religious dimension will very likely play a massive role in the way today’s society’s adapt to tomorrow’s world of harsh limits and harsher choices.
Cornucopian catechism: Notes from Pittsburgh
Trying to bring peak oil to the hometown. An example of the Semmelweis Reflex.
Urban design – May 8
No-walking blues (in suburban sprawl)
Cycling good in Cascadia, Europe’s better
Spain balks at corrupt urbanization
Moving New York City toward sustainable energy independence
How creation of an Energy Shortage Plan will prepare New York City for energy price volatility and accelerate the long-term transition to energy sustainability. (50-page report)
Transport – May 7
Binge-flying culture
Qantas sale: flying blind into turbulent times
A two-wheeled option (with battery) for commuters
Taking our time off – slower vacations
Your car + your commute = A visit to your doctor
Petroleum reservoirs are mysterious
Interview with Jeremy Gilbert, former Chief Petroleum Engineer at BP: “I expect to see a peak sometime before 2015, but I don’t think we’ll see a simple maximum followed by a decline. I foresee a series of maxima, each followed by a brief decline.”
The point of despair
It is at the point of despair that people can feel deep down their connection to all that has come before them and all that will come after. It is not just their personal futures that are at stake anymore. It is the whole project of human civilization…the future of the natural world.
Vancouver Sun – Green for a day under guest editor Suzuki
Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki was guest editor of the Vancouver Sun for its Saturday, May 5 edition – “definitely a step towards a positive green transformation.”
Religion and peak oil: The twilight of fundamentalism
The failure of the modern faith in progress in an age of peak oil bids fair to leave the field open for radically different ideologies. Is Christian fundamentalism poised to fill the void?
