People that Have a Clue about Peak Oil

[valuesystem]

There are quite a few people that have a clue, but there are so many others that don't, it is sometimes hard to know to whom to listen. I've been noticing this more and more recently, particularly due to the huge deluge of chatter that goes on in newspapers, radio, television, and especially, on the Internet

Comments

[valuesystem]

Yep, I know what you mean.

Some people have half-a-clue, and then others only appear to have a clue, until they keep talking, and it turns out that their reasoning is fundamentally flawed.

It makes me think that there should be some sort of fact-check on everything that is said, at least on one network or at least one news media.

Listening to NPR this week was like listening to crazy people talking all the time. Poor Diane Rehm couldn't make heads or tails of what her mostly clueless guests were saying on Tuesday. They all thought it was a lack of regulation and speculators that are driving up the prices. I was almost to the point of pulling my hair out. Crazy, absolutely crazy.

The congress is no better, of course, and the fact that they're all so concerned about being re-elected, to hell with doing the right thing, makes me really question our system of government. I mean, when we are in a crisis situation like this, our government should be equiped to deal... in fact, it should be designed to do so, and clearly, it can't even get its collective head on straight.

* ARGH!!! *

[theal8r]

That is a fundamental flaw in our system -- people who want power for the sake of power -- which is fueled (no pun) by the society's lack of education.

The problem here is that we are so dependant on oil that we can't really get beyond the idea that we NEED oil. We need to find other ways of providing fuel.

Of course, I say this in the wake of driving 2 hours to go to the beach, driving another 2 hours to take the kids and their grandma to the airport so they can fly to Michigan...

[valuesystem]

Yes, the education part is critical. Didn't one of the founders talk about that, how an educated electorate was critical for a well functioning democracy?

Actually, there is not more fuel to be found, not in the quantities that we would like to use it. Instead, it is going to be about crash conservation and curtailment, so we all reduce our dependance on oil by fifty, seventy, or even ninty percent. What that really means is imagining that our take-home income was reduced by that same percent, and then figuring out how to live on that.

Yes, I was thinking about my burning of fuel yesterday as well. A short jaunt to see Indiana IV and I burned up two gallons of gasoline, and created about $20 in economic spending/activity. But, as I've mentioned many times before, if the money wasn't spent on this, it would have been spent on something else. Which is to say that we can not do anything to stop peak oil or climate change, although we can certainly prepare in our own lives for both.

[theal8r]

But we can replace oil with wind, solar and other things. Not to the same level that we presently use. Cant we?

[valuesystem]

As a nation, if we start now, we can probably provide about 10-20% of our electricity needs with solar and wind. The trick is that no one is starting now, and that all of our infrastructure is designed around cheap diesel and gasoline. The real issue is that the problem is enormous, and there is very little time (or will) left to get us there.

So, we conserve like crazy, we cut back spending like crazy, and we curtail in all areas like crazy... and most people will do so not because they want to, but because it is the only thing they can do; the only way they can make ends meet.

[theal8r]

I'm still going to put solar panels on our house once we buy one.

And a decent garden (not on the house...)

[valuesystem]

Yep, I'm going to get at least one PV panel, to run my home office, or whatever needs to be run. It will be an investment that will pay itself quickly, and be a bit of security for years to come. This is one of my major goals at the Michigan Energy Fair this year, to learn what I can about PV, and to take the plunge and buy what I need.

The garden is coming along already, but there is much more to do!!!