The End is Nigh
I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in three days. Monday night I was shaking not from cold or an adrenalin rush, but from fear. I've never been so scared and despairing in my life. I fear for myself, my family, my friends and for the world itself.
Just about a week ago I saw a lecture by David Goodstein titled "The End of the Age of Oil". It basically covered the same material as his book "Out of Gas". I am ashamed to say that I had seen much of the data he puts forth before. I had just never put it together. Like so many others I had assumed we had many decades left and that market forces would take care of things. This evening was an eye opener. I was a fool. Not only are we very near the peak of oil production (as demand constantly increases), but it is reasonable to think we are already there.
I chewed over the information for a few days as I read the copy of his book I bought that night, but the urgency of the matter didn't really strike me until Monday night as I ran across this site. I normally scoff at such dire scenarios. But that is because they are based on foolish assumptions out of touch with the way the world really works. This is not. The facts and conclusions all bear out.
It's not a matter of just losing the cars and the extravagant lifestyle and the disposable economy. Our world and our economy is fed on oil. Not only do we rely on it to run the combines and harvesters and tractors, we also rely on it to run the trucks and trains to carry goods to and from the farms. If the United States were to magically transform into the pre-oil society we had over a century ago, we likely couldn't feed our present population. And that transformation would be far from magical anyway. Our society is set up for the cheap and easy energy we are used to.
As prices rise, our politicians are talking about raising fuel economy standards. This is akin to putting out a forest fire by spitting on it. We need to start building nuclear power plants (I know, I know, but it's an ugly necessity) and putting out solar arrays on a large scale. We need to heavily fund research into electric vehicles and biomass conversion and fuel cells (hydrogen will not be an energy source, but an energy storage vehicle). Market forces will not react quickly enough to make this happen. We need to light a fire under our heads of state to get the ball rolling on this.
Please, if nothing else, contact your representatives (even that dimwit in the White House) and wake them up to the crisis. Spread word among others on your list, post the links above. This is an issue of survival and we need to get started NOW.
Just about a week ago I saw a lecture by David Goodstein titled "The End of the Age of Oil". It basically covered the same material as his book "Out of Gas". I am ashamed to say that I had seen much of the data he puts forth before. I had just never put it together. Like so many others I had assumed we had many decades left and that market forces would take care of things. This evening was an eye opener. I was a fool. Not only are we very near the peak of oil production (as demand constantly increases), but it is reasonable to think we are already there.
I chewed over the information for a few days as I read the copy of his book I bought that night, but the urgency of the matter didn't really strike me until Monday night as I ran across this site. I normally scoff at such dire scenarios. But that is because they are based on foolish assumptions out of touch with the way the world really works. This is not. The facts and conclusions all bear out.
It's not a matter of just losing the cars and the extravagant lifestyle and the disposable economy. Our world and our economy is fed on oil. Not only do we rely on it to run the combines and harvesters and tractors, we also rely on it to run the trucks and trains to carry goods to and from the farms. If the United States were to magically transform into the pre-oil society we had over a century ago, we likely couldn't feed our present population. And that transformation would be far from magical anyway. Our society is set up for the cheap and easy energy we are used to.
As prices rise, our politicians are talking about raising fuel economy standards. This is akin to putting out a forest fire by spitting on it. We need to start building nuclear power plants (I know, I know, but it's an ugly necessity) and putting out solar arrays on a large scale. We need to heavily fund research into electric vehicles and biomass conversion and fuel cells (hydrogen will not be an energy source, but an energy storage vehicle). Market forces will not react quickly enough to make this happen. We need to light a fire under our heads of state to get the ball rolling on this.
Please, if nothing else, contact your representatives (even that dimwit in the White House) and wake them up to the crisis. Spread word among others on your list, post the links above. This is an issue of survival and we need to get started NOW.