Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
When the froth is gone, there is still a very vibrant economy hiding underneath. In fact, and this is where I start to get concerned, to the degree that we refocus our efforts away from keeping the froth full of air, we’ll start to focus more of our effort to revving up the fundamental economic engine that sits beneath it. And so will the rest of the world, which brings me to the other half of the equation: Peak Oil.
Another week of financial mayhem, bank bailouts and sinking stock markets has seen the oil price continue to fall. The IMF six monthly report reduced its global growth forecast for 2009 from 3.9% to 3.0% with much sharper cuts in the US and Europe. This was reflected in a reduced oil demand forecast by the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The slide has prompted OPEC to consider an early meeting to attempt to prop up prices.
A digest of news and commentary from a UK peak oil perspective
James Taylor Prepares For Peak Oil, Fears Collapse Of Society
Oil has fallen to the lowest price in a year meaning respite for consumers as food prices are coming down
Finding Energy to Beat a Recession
Over 30 speakers including Richard Heinberg, Ellen Hodgson Brown, Albert Bates, Stephanie Mills, Kurt Cobb, Richard Gilbert, John Richter, Tim Hudson, Bill Wilson, Tony Earley, Jerry Norcia, Paul Murray and Aaron Wissner explore the challenges and possibilities for Michigan’s future at a three day solution oriented conference in November.
It appears that demand destruction may mask the reality of Peak Oil for a time, perhaps for a few years. This “stay of execution” is an important opportunity that should not be wasted… Despite my personal aversion to additional government involvement, the fact of the matter is that we face both an economic abyss, and an energy abyss.
Say Goodbye to Peak Oil
Meeting the Energy Challenge-Heinberg & Darley (video and audio)
Oil Prices in 2009 – two views
US oil production at lowest level since 1946-gov’t
Next 20 years will see rapid changes – Ireland’s Sargent
Scottish councils urged to get into peak oil practice
New deal offers an alternative to global fatalism
Mid week update including:
– Financial turmoil
The Candidates and climate: a persistant air of surreality
Debate fact check is offshore drilling the answer?
The myth of election year manipulation of oil price
Latin leftists gloating over ‘Comrade’ Bush’s bailout
New U.S. intelligence report warns ‘victory’ not certain in Iraq
I was struck by how eerily similar are the now admitted journalistic lapses and the failure to connect the dots in the financial story to what we have been witnessing in the media’s coverage of peak oil. The heart of Kurtz’s apologia in the Washington Post is the troubling question “Why didn’t they see this coming?”
It had seemed abundantly clear over the year beginning mid 2007 that rampant economic development in less developed countries, along with the maintenance of economic development in more developed countries, spooked the oil markets. After all both China and India were growing economically at around 10% level.
However, that may be changing.
