Further to Seagreen’s interesting post on Monday 16 June 2008 and link to permaculture dude’s energy descent/climate change scenarios….
Does anyone else get the feeling the general view on oil availability is shifting? Many have been saying that we will run out of oil, but the message has been dismissed as alarmist, quashed, or ignored. Suddenly the past 6 months, all of the issues some of us have been concerned about for years (suburbs with no adequate public transport, building houses on prime market garden land on the fringes of the city, reliance on the motor car, lack of rail infrastructure, etc etc) are gradually becoming regularly discussed in mainstream media and by politicians, without counterpoints from the oil industry saying "we have plenty of oil there is nothing to worry about".
Last night there was an interesting interview on the 7:30 Report (ABC) with Richard Heinberg.
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s2280200.htm (hopefully transcript is posted, but you might have to just click on the podcast on the RHS of the screen and watch it). Basically, he says get used to petrol costing what it does now, a lot of restructuring of industry, and expenditure on non-car/truck transport infrastructure.
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/business/items/200806/s2280264.htm Also on Lateline Business last night, Virgin Blue chief discussing the implications for the airline industry.
Definitely time to invest in a bike.
1 comment:
yeah I get that feeling too. Had a taxi driver in melbourne tell me all about electric and hydrogen fuel cell cars, lament lack of rain, and tell me that a guy froma university got in his cab a few months back and said we only had another 80 years and after that we're all cactus and what did I think about that because he was kind of hoping the guy was wrong.
Struck me how the kinds of conversations I only dreamt of having with my family, cab drivers and incedental acquiantainces are now dime a dozen. My grandma tellls me about the Murray River drying up, and about landfill. Feels like something has defginitely changed in the last couple of years...
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