Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
Last week, I attended a conference on Peak Oil in Washington, D.C. With about 250 others, I heard that the world is probably reaching the top of petroleum production right now. This would mean a future of ever declining supplies and rising prices. It was scary. But there was also a strong message of hope.
The appalling truth is that none of the major political parties are prepared to propose the systemic changes that are necessary to address impending climate catastrophe. And the media is failing in its vaunted, but illusory, role of holding power to account – even as humanity’s fate lies in the balance
Jeff Vail: valuing elegance /
Resurgence issue on sustainability /
CSIRO sustainability newsletter #58 /
Fossil-free landscaping / Cassandra without portfolio: Maine’s Edward Myers
When I speak before college audiences about peak oil, I often ask if there are any engineers present. I suggest that they concentrate on jobs that will produce rather than consume energy, particularly energy that is renewable and doesn’t create greenhouse gas emissions.
Pedal to save the planet /
Wired cheerleading (green issue of Wired) /
Pretty people prefer Priuses
We get what we want from our energy slaves, it seems, without having to deal with real people in any way remotely approaching the intimate way those living with or without slavery in the pre-fossil fuel age had to.
There’s a colossal misperception that if you bike to work once a week and recycle your garbage, then global warming will be fixed up. The problem is that, even if everyone did that, the attempt to stop global warming would fail by a factor of, oh, roughly of 100.
How’s this for nerve? The leader of a country that consumes more than 20 million barrels of oil a day is warning the leader of a country that consumes some 6.5 million barrels not to try to lock up world oil resources.
What can one individual do? It helped to look at the impact of the seemingly, small things we are doing. Take toilet paper.
Mel Gibson’s portrayal of Satan in “The Passion of the Christ” is the one in the driver’s seat of our modern, petroleum-based civilization careening toward the cliff that is Peak Oil while we all look out the window and enjoy the scenery.
Innovating tourism, for fun, savings and the good of the planet /
Kim Stanley Robinson on the future of adventure
Demand for sugar is skyrocketing, because of our need for energy and oil-substitutes. An indirect sign of peak oil, if that was ever needed. And it’s happening really, really quickly…
