James Kunstler writes a weekly column reporting on what he forsees as the western economy’s coming collapse and the effect it will have on the United States. This week, as the news of the collapse of General Motors is highlighted on the hour, he writes of a recent trip to western and northern New York state: “You get into these far reaches of upstate New York and your senses report that you have entered something […]
If you’re not familiar with the Peak Oil models that are predicting a declining supply of energy for Western economies, there’s a fantastic post over on The Oil Drum that not only explains the basics, but goes a step further than most presentations I’ve seen. In the long presentation (which is adapted from a series of powerpoint slides) the author not only show that Peak Oil is still an issue today despite declining crude prices, […]
There’s an important bit of news today, and it’s not about the iPhone. According to the folks over on the Oil Drum: “World oil production peaked in 2008 at 81.73 million barrels/day (mbd) shown in the chart below. This oil definition includes crude oil, lease condensate, oil sands and natural gas plant liquids. If natural gas plant liquids are excluded, then the production peak remains in 2008 but at 73.79 mbd. However, if oil sands […]
David Brooks points to a new study from Pew: “The Pew Research Center just finished a study about where Americans would like to live and what sort of lifestyle they would like to have. The first thing they found is that even in dark times, Americans are still looking over the next horizon. Nearly half of those surveyed said they would rather live in a different type of community from the one they are living […]
Globalization drives global commodity prices downward. This causes localized economic disruption giving rise to mass migration as people move in search of work an sustenance. Will rising oil prices (and all the associated economic quantities) short cicuit globalization quickly enough? Would higher border tarrifs on commodities both decrease the rate of disruption as well allowing more time for the developed world to make the transition to renewable energy?
I woke up this morning and the bedroom was 70 degrees. So I climbed out of bed, wearing my warm sleep pants, turtleneck and thick socks and added a fleece vest, slippers and a warm robe. It’s good to be well fortified against the cold. The odd thing is that I’m not exaggerating. Having lived here in Phoenix for three winters now, 70 degrees really does feel uncomfortably cold. Going outside in 50 degree weather […]
Oil prices have fallen back to a level they were at nearly four years ago. They’re about 1/3 the level they were at this summer. So does this mean Peak Oil and the idea that we’re running out of petroleum was just so much hype and hand-wringing? Probably not. It’s much like Global Warming. The fact that the Earth’s average temperature is being seen to rise doesn’t mean that every temperature on earth is automatically […]
Have you been following the news about the significant gasoline shortages that being seen in the southeastern states? They’re due to Hurricanes Gustav and Ike and the damage to a major pipeline (and shutting down of refineries just north of Houston). The problem is being made worse because we were already at low supply levels going into the height of hurricane season. Saw this story over on Yahoo this morning: “This is how serious the […]
I suppose nobody wants to hear more bad news today. But this article was posted this morning on CNN’s Money website: “Indeed, Simmons isn’t the obvious candidate to be the bearer of bad news about oil. He’s spent his career working in the business, has lived in Houston for decades, and is such an industry insider that he helped edit the Bush campaign’s comprehensive energy plan in the 2000 election – the document that was […]
Oil Drum has an omnibus post with background information on the escalating conflict in Georgia. “Georgia has asked for a cease-fire, but Russia continues its air raids. Bombing originally began in the breakaway province of South Ossetia. Russia is now demanding that Georgian forces disarm in another breakaway province, Abkhazia, or Russian troops will move in. This would be a major escalation of the war.” Read the full post here. There are a bunch of […]
