Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
-World Energy Outlook Special Report 2012 – Iraq Energy Outlook [press release]
-IEA sees Iraqi oil output doubling to 6.1 mil b/d in 2020
-Awaiting the Iraqi oil rush
-Will Iraq’s energy boom postpone peak oil yet again?
When Cecile Andrews asked herself, “What matters?” the answer popped up: “Having time to do the things you want to do.” She simplified her life, quit her full-time job, and started simplicity circles to support others in savoring life.
The most amazing cultural event of the 21st century, at least so far, may be the rise of the hen. And Henny Penny is not squawking that the sky is falling, like humans are, but how locally produced eggs and fried chicken are a main part of the pot of gold at in the end of the food revolution rainbow.
A midweek roundup of peak oil news.
A late-summer conference that brought city gardeners and construction developers from around the world to Toronto has just issued a declaration. The statement calls for a new generation of living infrastructure that’s built in partnership with what’s conventionally thought of as urban agriculture.
When confronted with an increasingly despotic régime, the good people of almost any nation will cower in their homes and, once they are flushed out, will allow themselves to be herded like domesticated animals. They will gladly take orders from whoever gives them, because their worst fear is not despotism–it is anarchy. Anarchy! Are you afraid of anarchy? Or are you more afraid of hierarchy? Color me strange, but I am much more afraid of being subjected to a chain of command than of anarchy (which is a lack of hierarchy).
-Why America’s Economic Growth May Be (Shh!) Over, a New Marketplace Podcast
-Living Well: Explorations into the End of Growth
-And now: Peak growth theory
These thoughts are prompted by the latest wave of lobbying by British business interests for a third runway at Heathrow. I get weary writing about this: I went through the relevant trends at length a couple of years ago and found that in terms of air transport in the richer world almost all the trends were headwinds.
This second part of a five-part series uses the tools of narrative fiction to explore some of the ways in which America’s current global empire might come apart. As war begins in East Africa, the United States finds itself abruptly thrown on the defensive by China and its African allies, and attempts by Washington to retake the initiative trigger a spiral of international crisis that threatens to spin wholly out of control.
Unsung Films watched Mike Freedman’s Critical Mass this year when it screened at the Biografilm Festival in Bologna, Italy. On approaching the filmmaker with a short review of his documentary, we ended up with a great deal more: a 3000-word interview taking readers deep into the story of how Freedman’s film came together, how it affected him – both personally and professionally — and what we should expect in the years to come.
Novelist Dan Armstrong’s Prairie Fire is a fast-paced thriller whose characters forge unlikely alliances to revolutionize the American food system. It’s spearheaded by farmers squeezed by skyrocketing oil prices while marketeers get whopping price gains. This revolution is unlikely to succeed, yet… well, we won’t spoil it! In Dan’s Taming the Dragon, climate change causes Chinese grain production to plummet, bringing the world to the brink. Dan illuminates the real-world backdrop behind both novels. His solution? Localize food production. Meet farmer Harry MacCormack with exciting results in central Oregon.
As U.S. retail gasoline prices once again near $4.00 a gallon, does this pose a threat to the economy and President Obama’s prospects for re-election? My answer is no.
