There has been a peak-oil breakthrough in communications technology for local communities.

But the liquid fuels crisis will certainly wreak more havoc as we transition from oil to alcohol fuel.

it’s good that you’re analyzing the myriad of technologies that are totally dependent on oil, and therefore are threatened by peak oil. that’s awesome, and everyone should be aware of how fragile this system is.

i understand your response to peak oil, i used to feel the same way about the collapse of the economy, the grid failing, and so forth. it can seem pretty scary, especially if you’re someone who’s benefited from social and economic privileges that this system provides to some of us for being white, being male, being heterosexual, or having class privilege for example.

but let’s keep in mind that not everyone experiences the United States in the same way. oil has helped to create one of the most stratified and unequal societies in the history of the world. many people call this industrial capitalism, or imperialism.

this imperialist system also exists by devouring the resources of foreign nations, impoverishing them, pillaging their environments, and maintaining a threat of terrible violence for anyone stepping out of line of providing cheap labor and natural resources.

how would Iraqis (or most of the world) feel about the US economy collapsing because of high oil prices? probably differently than those on Wall St., and with good reason.

but taking this big picture doesn’t necessarily calm our fears about losing our jobs or figuring out where our food and heat is going to come from, and that’s what i hear you worried about.

here i think we need to work together. because it’s not just MY job, or MY food, is it? it’s OUR jobs, and OUR food, and OUR transportation, and OUR heat, and OUR community, which are threatened.

and who is threatening them? why is it that when the economy fails it’s the poor and middle classes that suffer the brunt of it?

these are ultimately political questions. so the only way to reverse them and actually IMPROVE our condition is to cause positive social and political change. this is the same struggle that has been going on since Empire was born: the poor and working classes have been organizing against it for 5,000 years.

here are some of the political choices i see facing this country in the coming years:

will corn be used to power Hummers and military Humvees, or to feed the hungry? (by the way, there’s already millions of hungry people, we don’t need to wait for peak oil)

will remaining power and electricity be used to produce more mind-numbing Hollywood movies and television shows, or to make sure people have home heating?

will the massive fertile acreage currently controlled by just a handful of giant agribusiness corporations be left fallow when the chemical pesticides, fertilizers and oil-powered tractors become too expensive, or will that land be reclaimed by small family farmers to actually feed people?

will the only jobs be to join the military or to be a prison guard in fortress America, or will there be Green Jobs available like building small renewable power sources, insulating homes, organic farming, etc etc etc?

i’ve typed too much, but my basic point is that we can do a lot better than giving in to helplessness and fear, no matter how scary the situation may be. it’s already been scary for most of the world, for quite some time. and people have survived. we’re survivors. we just can’t give up the fight.

we have nothing to lose but our chains, and a world to win!

According to energy investment banker Matthew Simmons and other independent forecasters, global crude oil production is now declining, from 74 million barrels per day to 60 million barrels per day by 2015. During the same time demand will increase 14%.

This is equivalent to a 33% drop in 7 years. No one can reverse this trend, nor can we conserve our way out of this catastrophe. Because the demand for oil is so high, it will always be higher than production; thus the depletion rate will continue until all recoverable oil is extracted.

Alternatives will not even begin to fill the gap. And most alternatives yield electric power, but we need liquid fuels for tractors/combines, 18 wheel trucks, trains, ships, and mining equipment.

We are facing the collapse of the highways that depend on diesel trucks for maintenance of bridges, cleaning culverts to avoid road washouts, snow plowing, roadbed and surface repair. When the highways fail, so will the power grid, as highways carry the parts, transformers, steel for pylons, and high tension cables, all from far away. With the highways out, there will be no food coming in from “outside,” and without the power grid virtually nothing works, including home heating, pumping of gasoline and diesel, airports, communications, and automated systems.

This is documented in a free 48 page report that can be downloaded, website posted, distributed, and emailed: http://www.peakoilassociates.com/POAnalysis.html

I used to live in NH, but moved to a sustainable place. Anyone interested in relocating to a nice, pretty, sustainable area with a good climate and good soil?
clifford dot wirth at yahoo dot com or give me a phone call which operates here as my old USA-NH number 603-668-4207, or if anyone is interested send me an email and I’ll call you in the U.S. Canada, or Europe.

there are so many faulty assumptions in your post that i frankly don’t even know where to begin.

i guess the first step would be for you to investigate the supply of oil, since i think you’ll find the existing reserves are so puny compared to the growing global demand, that the suggestion of drilling more is kind of laughable, even if it weren’t horrible economically, ecologically, and socially.

try reading up on the subject of peak oil. Matthew Simmons, a nice capitalist banker and oil industry veteran, has a lot to say on the subject.

here’s just one of many many videos you can easily find on youtube. Simmons also wrote a good book on the subject, as have at least a dozen other authors.

make sure you have the facts before you advocate a “solution” that might just make things worse.

alex

“Sherman Antitrust Act
This Act expresses our national commitment to a free market economy in which competition free from private and governmental restraints leads to the best results for consumers.” http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/contact/newcase.htm#file

Clearly the governmental restraint are in violation of a free market economy and is criminal negligence on the part of the liberal politicians who are the real cartel that profit in taxes more then 3 to 1 to the oil companies that actually work for their money and then have to pay taxes on top of that. So when Oil profits go up the tax revenue increase is 3 times that of the oil companies. So who do you think is the real cartel???

This criminal incompetence of the democrats and legislative politicians anti free market energy economy in allowing American companies to meet American Oil needs is in need of change and with bush opening up offshore drilling it is time that we conservatives take a page from the left wing play book and for us to us the judicial system in upholding our laws and open up drilling.

Why dose the Senate call for investigations on big oil? Because they are trying to transfer the blame off of them by placing the blame on someone else. By placing the blame on the oil companies and keep people from seeing that government is the true problem they are able to offer false hope in an effort to gain more power and money from taxes while eliminating a free market economy in our country and forcing us to send our money to unfriendly Middle Eastern countries.

Why should we drill?
1) Create more high paying jobs for Americans
2) Become energy independent and stop sending $700 billion to middle eastern countries that support terrorism
3) Invest the $700 billion in America
4) $700 billion is 6% of the yearly US economy, and investing this in America would do what to our economy? Lower inflation and strengthen the US dollar?
5) Instantly drop the price of oil because oil Speculators like me would invest in commodity producers that provide the product like Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, because this is the smart investment. When Oil Speculators transfer investments the Oil price falls on the stock market.