Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
– Analyst sees little Egypt oil and gas impact
– Q&A: Suez Canal
– U.S. envoy tells Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step aside
– Egypt’s Unrest May Have Roots in Food Prices, US Fed Policy
– Soccer clubs central to ending Egypt’s ‘Dictatorship of Fear’
– The Egyptian people tend to the streets that are now their own (video)
The US encourages peaceful protesters in Egypt. With many in the peak oil community mindful of the potential for civil unrest as economic and material conditions continue to slide in some wealthy Western countries, could unrest spread beyond autocratic states, even to US shores? If so, America’s lofty ideals would be put to the test as her own people sought real reforms to overhaul government and help rein in corporate power.
– How far will the unrest spread? (survey of ME countries at risk)
– Yemen: Tens of thousands call on president to leave
– Thousands protest in Jordan
– Thousands of Albanian protest despite warnings
– Oil Prices Rise Sunday as Egypt Unrest Gooses Market
– Egyptian Unrest Has Repercussions in Global Economy
– White House quietly prepares for a post-Mubarak era in Egypt
– Juan Cole interview: “Egypt is a Praetorian Regime”
– Israel ‘anxiously monitoring’ turmoil in Egypt
This morning, I’ve been catching up on some reading about the protests in Egypt and Algeria, following on the Jasmine Revolution that is in process in Tunisia. Clearly, the reason for interest is wondering to what extent is there any risk of these events spreading into the big oil exporters, which could cause extremely large disruptions in the global economy. This is probably unlikely, but not so inconceivable that serious observers aren’t starting to at least think about it.
– Pushing Back Against Economic Crisis, Youth Unrest Ripples Around World
– Capitalism and Degrowth – An Impossibility Theorem
– Daniel Tanuro: The Futility of Green Capitalism
– Actually, The Retirement Age is Too High
Author, blogger and social critic James Howard Kunstler opens up on two circumstances he sees running neck and neck “that are going to put us out of business as an advanced industrial civilization”—the “fiasco” in banking, money and finance and the unfolding “energy predicament.” He explains that the crises are really all about “capital” and that we need to look at how wealth has been accumulated and deployed for productive purposes.
Saudi oil minister Ali al-Naimi hinted this week that OPEC might move to increase oil production to satisfy rising demand. Both OPEC and the IEA are anticipating demand growth this year, and with Brent crude close to $100/barrel the pressure on OPEC is growing…Many of the OPEC nations face serious threats of their own as they struggle to generate jobs for their growing populations. No doubt the house of Saud and other OPEC leaders will be casting a wary eye at the recent uprising in Tunisia and the riots in Egypt.
In Tunisia, Mohamad Bouazizi did not rebel because he did not find a job reflecting his ambitions and education. He did not burn himself when a police officer confiscated the fruits and vegetables he was selling at a street-corner on the pretext he had no permit. But when he went to file a complaint to seek justice, his demand was rejected. It was this feeling of injustice that led Mohamed Bouazizi to his desperate act.
Blackout offers scholars and activists an overview of projections on future coal production and their complexities, but social movements will need to look elsewhere for what is to be done about the historical burden of our coal question.
[Excerpts]
Rising food prices leading to riots, protests, and revolts, mounting oil prices, mammoth worldwide unemployment, and a collapsed recovery — it looks like the perfect set of preconditions for a global tsunami of instability and turmoil. Events in Algeria and Tunisia give us just an inkling of what this maelstrom might look like, but where and how it will next erupt, and in what form, is anyone’s guess.
Reviewing the numbers on the Transition U.S. and U.K. sites is a useful indicator about its future growth and just how “viral” it is. Brownlee’s comment led me to peruse these sites. They show an initial increasing rate of growth and then a decelerating rate of growth
