“This is very important….I
never had a security briefing which said
what some of these very serious, but
conservative petroleum geologists say, which
they think that, either now or before the
end the decade’s out, we’ll reach peak oil
production globally, and with the rise of
China and India and others coming along,
unless we can dramatically reduce our oil
usage, we will run out of recoverable oil
within 35 to 50 years. And that would mean
that…in addition to climate change, we have
a very short time in the life of the planet
to turn this around….we may not have as much
oil as we think. So we need to get in gear.”
— Former President Bill Clinton, Aspen Ideas
Festival, July 2006 [1]
 
It’s the energy and the economy, stupid
An open letter to US policymakers
by William Clark
 The
21st century will likely be defined by three
overarching forces: climate change, Peak
Oil, and macroeconomics. The twin issues of
climate change and Peak Oil are intertwined
variables, and each represent extremely
important phenomena that have slowly gained
some public awareness. However, the third
issue, macroeconomics, and more specifically
the global trends regarding multiple
petrocurrencies remains essentially
unreported by the five US corporate media
conglomerates.
Despite the general lack of public debate,
the geopolitical landscape of this young
century is increasingly being driven by
escalating competition for energy supplies
before global oil production peaks, and the
erosion of dollar hegemony with the
emergence of new petrocurrency alignments.
The hypothesis outlined in Petrodollar
Warfare; Oil, Iraq and the Future of the
Dollar, is that the tragic war in Iraq
is in many ways the first oil-depletion and
oil-currency war of the 21st century. [2]
Indeed, the geostrategic drivers behind the
current “Iran crisis” are essentially the
same as the previous “Iraq crisis,”
including: structural imbalances in the
global economy, which is being exacerbated
by the weak US dollar, and the emerging
liquid fuel energy crisis that will
inexorably follow the peak in global oil
production. The fact is that the post-World
War II status of the US dollar as premier
world reserve currency is quietly but
assuredly eroding. [3] There are three key
variables to analyze concerning the changing
status of the dollar’s reserve role in the
global financial system:
- Central banks may
shift their reserves out of dollars
(e.g. into euros, Asian currencies,
etc.)
- The Asian currencies
could end their pegs to the US currency
(e.g. China circa July 2005)
- We could witness a
breakdown in the pricing of commodities
in dollars (e.g. a “basket of
currencies” for global oil trade
including the dollar, euro, ruble,
renminbi and perhaps rial).
All three of these trends have become
evident. Regarding the third item, the most
important globally traded commodity is oil,
and this is where erosion of the dollar’s
world reserve currency status is
significant. [4] This segues into the larger
issue of geopolitics, and corresponding
attempts by Washington to retain its
hegemonic status as the world’s sole
superpower. A careful analysis of the
macroeconomic, geopolitical, and geological
trends indicates that over the next few
years we will witness a continued decline of
US dollar/petrodollar supremacy, and almost
certainly a peak in global oil production
between 2010 and 2015. Mitigating these
trends before they become a fait accompli
should be the focal point of every major
policy-maker in both the domestic and
international realms.
The ill-fated unilateral invasion of Iraq
that was designed to maintain US dominance
of the global oil supply and enforce
petrodollar supremacy — has had the ironic
effect of encouraging momentum towards
petroeuros and other petrocurrencies — along
with new geopolitical and energy alignments
unfavorable to the US. [5][6][7][8] In the
meantime, the American military is trapped
in a tragic quagmire in Iraq, even as the
Bush-Blair administrations are once again
obfuscating their real geostrategic and
macroeconomic agenda regarding Iran by
engaging in a propaganda campaign about an
Iranian “nuclear weapons program” that
according to both the IAEA and CIA simply
does not exist. [9]
Unfortunately, America’s current domestic
energy and monetary policies are
unsustainable, and US geostrategy is at odds
with the interests of global stability: the
two greatest challenges facing the world
today are the need for global energy
reconfiguration and monetary reform. The
success or failure to create multilateral
accords towards these two colossal
undertakings will be the drivers of war and
peace, and thereby define the human
condition during the opening decades of the
21st century.
Peak Oil: The Energy Conundrum ....Read
remaining article here
free at Energy Bulletin Published on 28
Dec 2006 by
Energy Bulletin
Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock
Solutions & sustainability - Mar 30
Staff, Energy Bulletin
Toll for
driving in downtown San Francisco? / The Meatrix
II / Delaware Valley officially plans for
post-peak / The American Prospect special issue
on "Green economy: after oil"
first published March
30, 2006.
40% off Jason Organic Products at House of Nutrition
Can We Use Fear as a Motivator for Change?
How to Survive the Coming Economic Collapse
How You Can Thrive When Oil Costs $200 a Barrel
Rob Hopkins, Transition
Culture
Rob Hopkins
asks the question, to what extent should we use
the fear of Peak Oil as a tool to motivate
change in people?
first published March
29, 2006.
Carbon: too much, not too little
John Quiggin, Crooked
Timber
Suppose that
availabilty of oil is going to decline to levels
far below those of today. The question is, so
what? The US has enough easily accessible coal
to supply hundreds of years of consumption at
current rates, and the same is true of the rest
of the world.
first published March
29, 2006.
Peak oil - Mar 29
Staff, Energy Bulletin
The global oil
disaster scenario / Global Public Media:
Savinar, Maori Party, Bartlett, Cooke, Wright,
more / When will peak oil tip? (from
backwardation to contango)
first published March
29, 2006.
Beyond petroleum?
Amanda Kovattana, Blogspot
In Bush's state
of the union address we all heard him say the
words "addicted to oil". I was elated for the
rest of the week. I know, I know. This doesn't
mean he'll actually do anything about it, but at
least we can now hear the problem addressed from
all fronts.
first published March
28, 2006.
 Gas War: The Truth Behind the American Occupation of Afghanistan
As Seen On TV Natural Daylight
Light Bulb
 This
must have light bulb will turn any lamp into a
natural light lamp. It has a CRI (Color
Rendering Index) of 82 which means that photos,
books, and even people will have almost the same
true color as they would outside on a sunny day.
This glare free, natural light brings out color
and detail. Great for bathroom or vanity light
so you can better see your makeup. Helps prevent
eyestrain! This 20 watt bulb is equivalent to a
regular 75 watt bulb and lasts 6000 hours or
more and carries both UL and Energy Star
approval.
Solutions & sustainability - Mar 28
Staff, Energy Bulletin
 Michael Pollan:
The modern hunter-gatherer / California makes
itself the most efficient place in North America
/ Home builders turning green / Farm goes for
economic, ecological diversity / US, African
scientists seek biotech answer to hunger
(sorghum)
first published March
28, 2006.
Smoke & Monetary Policy
Jeff Vail, A Theory of
Power
On Tuesday I
had a conversation with a few Senior Executives
in the Department of the Interior about how to
solve the Peak Oil problem--and we all came to
the same conclusion: there is a structural block
to the solution to this problem...
first published March
27, 2006.
 TurboJet
Dual Function Shower Head
It's time to ENJOY your shower! Therapeutic relieves
stress Economic save on water bills Removable water saver to increase
water pressure Installs in less than a minute & without tools
Making us “future-proof” – the evolving role of
horticulture
Dr. Elizabeth Heij, CSIRO
Sustainability Network
How
horticulture and related fields (such as urban
forestry) might evolve to assist the transition
to an economy without cheap oil.
first published March
27, 2006.
Collapse: How Societes Choose to Fail or Succeed
(Jared Diamond)
What markets are telling us about future energy
prices
Jerome a Paris, European
Tribune
Until very
recently the expectations on long term price of
oil were extraordinarily stable - at around
20$/bl. Thexe expectations have changed
remarkably quickly during the past 2 years
first published March
26, 2006.
Top 10 US cities best prepared for an oil crisis
staff, SustainLane.com
If the price of
oil shot to $100 a barrel tomorrow, which
American cities would be able to survive
economically?
first published March
25, 2006.
 Exposing Oily Politicians
Peak oil - Mar 25
Staff, Energy Bulletin
Los Alamos
physicist: Is there energy for all in the 21st
century? / Review of Tertzakian's "A Thousand
Barrels A Second" / oGE - a Portuguese peak oil
website / Rep. Bartlett and OilCrash /
Washington DC Petrocollapse conference May 6 /
Dublin April 19-23: 'Learning to Live With Less
Fossil Fuel' / India: Time for Plan B for energy
security?
first published March
25, 2006.
 Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil
Other links related to Peak Oil and the world Energy Crisis:
"Permaculture is a design
system for sustainable land use and living first articulated by the
author and Bill Mollison nearly 30 years ago. It has since become one of
the most powerful frameworks for positive response to environmental
limits and global ethics. Permaculture has influenced fields as diverse
as home self reliance, organic agriculture, ecological building,
environmental education and development aid (including World Vision
projects and training)."
 Gaia's Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture
Hemenway, a permaculture expert and associate editor of The Permaculture
Activist, explains how gardens can function as ecosystems, describes the
basic parts of an ecological garden (soil, water, plants, and animals),
and shows how to create backyard ecosystems through guilds. Guilds, the
author tells us, are groups of plants that function as an ecosystem to
provide products for humans, create cover and food for wildlife, nourish
the soil, conserve water, and repel pests. A simple example of a guild
is the "three sisters" (corn, beans, and squash); corn stalks provide a
trellis for beans, the beans supply nitrogen to the soil, and the squash
leaves inhibit weeds and conserve water.
|
Stop worrying about dead batteries in your
flashlight.
The Faraday Flashlight is always ready for any emergency. It does not
use batteries or bulbs. Instead, it uses energy
and induction to produce a bright light using efficient LED
technology.
Whenever you need light, simply shake the flashlight, and it will
produce a bright light that can be seen up to a mile away. Great for
blackouts and emergencies, the Faraday Flashlight is 7 3/4"L. As a
Free Gift with your order, you'll also receive a compact Faraday
Flashlight that is 4 7/8"L
never needs batteries
