Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Written with the satirical wit of modern Voltaire, Orlov goes where few other peak oil writers have dared to go, and his sardonic Russian humor allows a stark look at American prospects through the eyes of someone who has witnessed collapse first hand.
U.S. ecosystem report indicates trouble
The intersections of energy and water
US mayors agree to phase out bottled water
Canada: Energy supplants environment as top concern
Oilsands vacation site tempts visitors with ‘toxic lakes’
Korea: Oil prices prompt crisis response
Germany has world’s biggest cut in energy use in 2007
Germany approves ambitious CO2 reduction measures
What’s a silver-streaked lady ecology writer to do? Be nice, be friendly, avoid the troubling topics, read the classics, don’t feel morally obliged to infect others with a perfectly warranted alarm and pessimism. Who am I to tell 10,000 ostensibly complacent neighbors that the ship is going down … especially at the height of summer, when the days are so fine and fair?
According to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2008, German Primary Energy consumption dropped -5.6% in 2007. What does the German example mean for everyone else?
We are currently in a deep and horrible disaster, being visited on the world’s poorest and the tentacles are gradually crawling up the anchor to take down the rest of the ship. But I also think that there is a good deal of reason for hope – we have vast capacities, vast resources and vast imagination.
As the energy crisis explodes on the rest of us, I’d like to advocate for mercy for those who don’t yet fully understand. … sympathy and kindness are not small things to be rationed out by droppers, only to those perfectly deserving – they should be ladled out and poured from buckets and flow out of us like rivers. Any scarcity of kindness is artificial – and far too many things are growing scarce for us to have artificial shortages of generosity.
Millions in U.S. face energy shutoff
Lights and gas move out of range of ordinary people
Feel bad for the middle class
At first I felt this book wasn’t enough for what is needed. Then reality straightened me out.
If you are listening to me now then you were born in The Age of Oil. A wondrous time when abundant energy has enabled humanity to work technological miracles. With enough energy we can solve any problem. … We are entering a new age, the Post-Peak Oil Age. Now the 100 year folly of modern economics comes to an end. No more fantasies that resources are infinite. No more delusions that growth goes on forever. Just us, all six billion of us, on our precious, fragile little planet. Now comes the hard part.
The oil crisis is upon us. I hope to convince you that sharply curtailing our oil demand is the only and best way for Americans to negotiate the coming decade (2008-2018). To that end, I will construct three scenarios for you to consider in contemplating your future energy consumption.
In this paper we will consider the implications of the dwindling supply of oil in light of the Olduvai Theory.
