Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
John Michael Greer One of the unmentionable facts of today’s politics is that the relative prosperity of the industrial nations depends on the impoverishment of the rest of the world. Lacking a willingness to deal with this reality, proposals for political solutions to peak oil and other aspects of our current predicament fall short.
The “we” refers to North America. The “it” refers to liquified natural gas (LNG) ports. And, the “they” refers to LNG tankers from exporting countries. Unfortunately, the answer to the question is “probably not,” at least not in the numbers we would like them to come.
(Report from the recent ASPO conference)
For years, the task of reducing greenhouse-gas emissions was seen as a job mainly for central governments… But with the major emitters such as the US and China outside the treaty, and with the Kyoto nations failing to meet their 2012 goals, the idea of millions of self- sacrificing individuals taking responsibility for their own energy-excessive lives seems like The Next Best Thing.
Controlling carbon and CO2 emissions requires, at root, finding some other way to generate electricity, to power vehicles, and to heat spaces. Fortunately for the future of mankind, there is a plethora of well-developed technologies in existence just waiting for mankind to start using them on a vast scale. The big problem is getting past the inertia of previous ways of doing things.
Biocrude? Algae-to-oil project /
‘WTO must set rules for biofuel trade’ /
Ethanol could corrode pumps, testers say /
Turning forest slash into cash /
Europe set for biodiesel boom -Goldman Sachs
WorldChanging owners’ manual for planet Earth /
David Korten and the End of “Business As Usual” /
BBC: The fall and rise of the bicycle
Bush admin appoints Exxon’s Lee Raymond to solve America’s energy crisis /
U.S. drops bid over royalties from Chevron /
$450 million for coal research /
British Columbians in dark about ‘Enronization’ of energy
Transcript of a speech by a candidate for New York State Lieutenant Governor. Polls show that the Spitzer-Paterson ticket is likely to win big next week. If so, New York state would have the first peak oil aware governor’s office in the United States.
New Yorker: The Last Drop: Confronting the possibility of a global [water] catastrophe /
Atlantic current stopped for 10 days in 2004 /
Rasslin’ swamp gas (methane) /
The thirteenth tipping point /
Nine ‘laws’ of ecological bloodymindedness
NY Times on Bioneers /
Live from Pop!Tech: Live green or die /
Slow Food movement has global outreach /
Coming to a theater near you: carbon-neutral movie /
New book “Energy: use less, save more” /
Greening the planet, one backyard at a time
“The Great Warming” – movie review /
Climate research center’s oversight up for bidding /
California: Schwarzenegger, Angelides both profess to lean green /
Scientists, American public disagree sharply over global warming /
New culprit in climate change? Try airlines
Whether conventional oil production will peak in the next year, or the next decade or a decade or two later, is moot. But it will peak and, in policy terms, the timeframe is short…
The Government believes the more serious and more immediate problem is climate change, and that is why we as a nation need to actively reduce the greenhouse gas emissions produce.
