Oil

Commentary: Slam on the brakes!

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We’re not talking about slamming the brakes on fossil fuels. Even as our contribution to creating Peak Oil awareness begins to see a little light (at least in some circles), I am concerned that we will be so worried about saving our own bacon or appearing to be rational that we will fail to take posterity into account. If we are to save just a little oil for our children, we need to just plain stop using oil (gas, coal).

Review: Reinventing Collapse – Revised and Updated by Dmitry Orlov

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Neither an economist nor a formally trained scholar, Dmitry Orlov is perhaps best described in his own words, as “more of an eyewitness” to the phenomenon on which he writes. He’s a Russian émigré who saw the Soviet Union fall firsthand and has been drawing on this experience in warning of the coming U.S. collapse. He came to fame five years ago with a smash-hit Internet article that won him a loyal following and a subsequent book deal. The book, Reinventing Collapse, is now in its second edition—and regardless of how well it holds up to scholarly scrutiny, it’s admirable in its wit and prodigious street smarts.

The Shrinking Pie: Post-Growth Geopolitics

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As nations compete for currency advantages, they are also eyeing the world’s diminishing resources—fossil fuels, minerals, agricultural land, and water. Resource wars have been fought since the dawn of history, but today the competition is entering a new phase. From Richard Heinberg’s new book ‘The End of Growth’.

Deus ex Machina: Will economic collapse save us from climate catastrophe?

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A new paper by NASA’s James Hansen suggests that immediate and drastic declines (ca. 6% annual) in industrial CO2 emissions are required to avoid catastrophic climatic destabilization. As no realistic political solution exists for such immediate CO2 reduction, prospects for a livable future have now become dependent on a single back-breaking option: rapid global economic collapse. And in ‘Deus ex machina’ style, we may get it just in time.

America’s “Holiday from History” – How George Will got it all wrong

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Immediately after 9/11, Washington Post columnist and premier Inside-the-Beltway pundit George Will asserted that America had taken a “Holiday from History” during the previous ten years and that the attacks had brought it to an abrupt end. In reality, by ignoring energy issues Americans took their holiday from history for a much long period, from 1981-2005, and we’re about to pay a very steep price for it.

Review of Bundeswehr Report on peak oil: Section 2.2. Tipping Point (Nov. 2010)

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Oil is often described as ‘the life-blood’ of modern society. It is as vital to our globalized economy as water is to the human body. A reduction in supply of only a few percentages could create difficulties throughout the entire system. Further reductions could lead to a complete failure of critical systems.