Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
The New Year failed to ring in the customary changes this time round. The great economic hangover moves into its fourth year with many predicting that things will take a turn for the worse during 2012. Geopolitically, the standoff between the West and Iran escalated over the holiday, hoisting oil prices over $113/barrel once again.
– In Depth with Author and Journalist Chris Hedges (video)
– Vengeance vs Forgiveness: This Eternal Struggle
– Guy McPherson: Taking a hike
– Fascist America? Not Exactly
A midweekly roundup of peak oil news, including:
-Developments this week
My resolution for 2012 is to be naive — dangerously naive.
– NYT: Oil Price Would Skyrocket if Iran Closed the Strait of Hormuz
– RT: Crude Plan: Iran war & double recession? (video)
– Iran could be bluffing in the strait of Hormuz – but can US risk calling it?
-Josh Fox, Director of Gasland, on the Lies of Hydrofracking
-What the Frack?
-Ohio earthquake was not a natural event, expert says
-Ohio Quake Spurs Action on 5 Wells, Won’t Stop Oil and Gas Work
-Fracking Rules Show Obama on ‘Wrong Track,’ Oil Group Says
– Nigeria union chiefs urge general strike amid fuel protests
– Global unrest: how the revolution went viral
– Hungary set for protests over constitution
– Stephen Cohen: Russian Protests and the Soviet Union’s Afterlife
– EU agrees Iran oil embargo
– Iran’s Real Weapon Of Mass Destruction Is Oil Prices
– Iran prepares bill to bar foreign warships from Persian Gulf
– Obama Seeks to Distance U.S. from Israeli Attack (Iran)
– Iran’s new show of force
– Tehran Times: U.S. presence in Persian Gulf is damaging: Iran defense minister
– Nuclear Fuel Test Won’t Hasten Iran Bomb: Experts
In a few short weeks a rag-tag group of under-thirties has been able to transform the global conversation about economic issues by focusing on three basic points, all of which are essential for stopping runaway climate change and ecological overshoot.
– NYT: Iran Warns the United States Over Aircraft Carrier
– Oil up 3 percent on Iran warning and U.S., China data
– Iran risk accounts for up to $10-15 of oil price: Reuters’ Kemp (video)
– Crude Oil Prices Could Rise This Year, But Prices Could Be Very Volatile
– Conflict in Straits of Hormuz? $200 a Barrel Oil?
There’s hope that the U.S. will break free from this “global suicide pact” and develop a fundamentally different economy. My prediction for 2012: decentralized forces, formed in response to the unsustainable and unfair economic situation, will begin to fundamentally change how our national economy works. People in the Occupy Wall Street movement and groups working on human rights, public health, clean energy, and social and tax justice are laying the groundwork for a shift to a steady state — a dynamic and sustainable economy that pursues prosperity and full employment without GDP growth.
Last year ASPO-USA brought together a host of leading thinkers and their predictions for what to expect in 2011. While not all the predictions were on target, last year’s thinkers and leaders on energy issues were remarkably prescient, accurately anticipating among other things Arab Spring, the flow of energy prices, the re-emergent world food crisis, and the next step in the Transition movement. While foreseeing the future is a delicate exercise, there are real trends that are evident to eyes prepared to see. Here are their thoughts about the coming year. A Hopeful New Year to all from ASPO-USA!
