In time for our nation's latest economic woes (with more and more references to the 30s-era Depression popping up in the news), here's yet another article about the woes of Peak Oil, a scary thesis proposing that our world's inability to keep up with oil demand presents a race between a promising transformation to a more sustainable civilization or a collapse of social order leading to a cycle of poverty and violence on a global scale. Images of gas lines in the South (reminding me of the Bad Old Days in the 1970s) offer a tiny glimpse of what that future might hold. But not everyone agrees that the tap is shutting off forever.
Writing in Fortune (CNN/Money), Brian O'Keefe presents Matt Simmons's compelling viewpoint from a doomster's perspective. Here's a snip:
[T]the era of easy oil is over, and the world is about to enter a period of convulsive change. (Hint: Learn to garden, and buy some comfortable walking shoes.)
Read the entire piece,
Here comes $500 oil
1 comment:
Shawn and I were just talking about this today. I told him that I was really glad we learned how to sustain a garden when we bought our first house a few years back. He remarked, "What makes you think what's going on in the economy is going to force people to grow their own food?" My reply was something like, "Uh, well, when things get too darn expensive, at least we'll know how to grow".
In short, our country is in a very interesting place right now. Gas prices, mortgage crisis, huge market shifts, etc... It will be interesting to see where everything settles.
Post a Comment