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.
LA Times: Envisioning a world of $200-a-barrel oil
The challenges of peak oil
Tammemagi: Civilization’s golden era is teetering on collapse
Oil disquiet on the Western front
Crash course- preparing for peak oil (book review)
Fixing peak oil is easy
Retreat location and avoiding the golden horde
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?
We all know that even in the United States the guarantee of free speech has limits. The Supreme Court long ago said that no one has the right to endanger his or her fellow citizens by, for instance, falsely yelling “fire” in a crowded theater. Such acts of speech are said to pose “a clear and present danger.” James Hansen, perhaps the most respected climate scientist on the planet, thinks that the fossil fuel lobby and its disinformation campaign about global warming may pose a similar threat.
The idea that you can suddenly change the course of history by pushing a big green button is itself a very pointed dig at our lack of grasp of the challenges we face and what sustainability will really entail.
New Scientist: ‘Oil: The final warning’
Democracy Now: A look at the new geopolitics of energy
What can history teach us about forecasts of energy use?
Peak oil profits ARM processors
Scientists warn of lack of phosphorus as biofuels raise demand
Fertiliser shortage hits India’s farms
Food for thought
Energy farm experiment in Kentucky
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.
Profile of bio-regionalist Stephanie Mills
How to cut your fuel bills 80% or more (software)
Introducing a new currency – the “Carbon”
Burbank Water & Power: Smart grids, WiFi, renewables
The problem with Big Green
Scenius, or communal genius
Methane burps & tele everything
