We're F*&^%ed... If you believe what whistleblower Michael Ruppert (book: Confronting Collapse), and Matt Savinar (lifeaftertheoilcrash.net), and Cal Tech physicist David Goodstein (book: Out Of Gas) have to say about us passing our peak of oil production (in 2005) and this leading to our demise and that the end of civilization is due sometime this century because of the lack of power to support the human race ...Then we're kinda screwed. Not to mention the problem of global warming, water and food shortages.
I've been thinking about this over the last few days. Poor Sasha and Victoria.
But Irena and I have faith in the ingenuity of mankind. At the same time that we're running out of resources, we're building our life spans, markedly. Futurists Kurzweil and Grossman (book: Transcend – nine steps to living well forever) tell us that we should be able to extend our lives to hundreds of years, from the gene-therapy and nano-technology that will be rapidly developed in the next 25 years.
OPEC is sitting on a trillion barrels of oil which accounts for about 75% of the planet's supply. We're using upwards of 35 billion barrels a year. So sometime in the next 10 years the human race will finally 'get it' and understand that the game is up as far as oil is concerned, and some degree of panic will set in, which should wreck the financial markets. Growth can't occur without our power needs being met. The world population has boomed in the last century because of the proliferation of oil as a power source, and as a key ingredient in most of the consumer goods we consume and distribute around the globe.
Unless... It seems our best hope is in the work that is being done at Lawrence Livermore labs. (thanks for forwarding this to me Kevin, it made my year). By 2012 we should realize Nuclear Fusion. This just blows my mind! I just hope, we don't blow the planet up in the process. Even 'do no evil' Google is seeing the light, and has taken it upon themselves to invest $200 million into off-coast wind farms.
The other key to getting over oil, is getting local. Real local. And lowering our ridiculously insatiable consumerism. Ultimately, humans stand to gain from consuming less, and enjoying their local communities and resources more. We can stand to drive less, use public transportation more, and buy and live more locally. The developing world is less happy, less locally 'involved,' and more transient than ever before in history. As resources become depleted, it will force us to become more locally ingrained, and I think happier as a consequence. Those who do not find and foster more local ties, will simply perish, if Ruppert is right?
Irena and I are helping out by...
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Not having a car: we walk, cycle and use taxis and planes and buses
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Consuming locally grown goods and food as much as possible
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Wanting for little, but having everything we want, living (somewhat) minimally
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Using a distributed work force for our company, Courtland Brooks, zero commutes for everyone!
We're NOT helping out by...
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Consuming too much power, especially air conditioning: its hot in Malta!
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Flying frequently
We plan on doing better in the future by...
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Losing 10-20lbs body weight so we don't feel so hot in the summers and don't need quite so much air conditioning
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Condensing our travels so we cover more ground with less round trip flights. e.g. I'm visiting London, Toronto, L.A., San Fran, Dallas, Miami, Tampa, London, on a trip starting Thursday. Then we're staying put until the January iDate conference. Then April, then June. Sheesh, I guess we do travel a fair amount. What to do? Carbon offsets?
I still feel this is all rather feeble. What else can we do? What else can YOU do?
