President Bush has been briefed on the end of cheap oil... have you?
We will soon start seeing ads put out by Chevron for its new campaign: Will You Join Us. Rather than advertising some new "high-performing" gasoline, this campaign is a public admission of the end of cheap oil and a PR move designed to get YOU, Mr. and Ms. Public, to consider the oil companies your allies as the shit hits the fan over the next few years. Get ready for a probable economic downturn this winter.
For those of you still in the dark (I blogged about peak oil a few months ago), here it is in a nutshell: there's strong evidence indicating that the globe may have reached peak oil, which means we've pumped out half of the world's known supplies. While one's first reaction is "So? That means one half is left," the bad news is that after peak, oil is much more difficult and expensive to extract and refine. Thus, the oil we've been using for the past 70+ years has been the light, sweet, "gusher", cheap stuff. The explosively exponential rise in human population over the past 70 years has been predicated on cheap, easily accessible oil. In fact, economic growth as we know it is dependent upon cheap energy. Think of everything from auto transportation, small and large-scale shipping, plastics, medical infrastructure, industrial agriculture that uses huge quantities of petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides, etc. Did you know that for every one calorie the average American consumes, more than ten calories of fossil energy went into putting it on her plate? Well, things are about to change radically.
Here's the kicker - there is no combination of renewable and alternative fuels that could possibly ramp us up to present levels of consumption in the short period of time we have. ...
Read the whole thing at the link. Also at Emily's blog: the "Women's Land" concept isn't only in southern Oregon ... here's a village in Kenya called Umoja (Unity), an all-female community where 'women have the money and decision-making power to choose education for their children.' Follow Emily's post to the link at Feminist Majority ... and don't forget to bookmark Strangechord.
What is an idiotarian? Winds of Change has the answers.
More centrists speak out. I've already plugged Nadz ("None of the Above"), but I can't resist mentioning her again here. Despite its curious features, this creature is surprisingly reasonable. For those who don't grasp the concept of "centrist", Michael J. Totten draws you a picture.
Echoing George Galloway's now-famous rant against Christopher Hitchens, Drink-Soaked Trotskyite Popinjays for War takes this post's "Best Blog Title" award - an honor it shares with this blog by Grace Davis.
Finally, MJ continues to roast but that doesn't stop her from offering some great links. Beware Seat 29E. No info, though on what to do about the problem of a hippo on your keyboard. Well, maybe next time.
