The end of Suburbia as we know it - the era of Peak Oil
Last week I watched a documentary about Peak Oil, entitled "The End of Suburbia." I encourage everyone to watch it. Before, I didn't know much about Peak Oil. But it's something I feel that we should prepare for.
Peak oil is not a partisan issue. It will affect not just how we get to work (even those of us who take mass transit will be affected) but also how our food gets to us, how we grow our food (petroleum is a major ingredient in agriculture pesticides, ewwwww!), how we heat our houses and so on.
We are reaching an era where the demand for oil is outstripping the supply. There are currently 600 million total vehicles worldwide that run on oil; 200 million of these alone are in the US. With car use in China and other developing countries growing, there will be more demand for oil than supply soon. Already, the world consumes around 4 times as much oil as we discover (source: www.peakoil.com).
Peak oil theory, a.k.a. Hubbert's Peak, says that oil (or any other finite resource) will have a beginning, middle, and an end of production, and at some point it will reach a level of maximum output. Oil production typically follows a bell shaped curve when charted on a graph, with the peak of production occurring when approximately half of the oil has been extracted. For a good introduction to peak oil, visit
US oil production peaked in the 1970 and has declined since. There is proof that other countries have or are now reaching their peak. According to
Oil companies and executives from around the world admit that oil is declining and that we will need new forms of energy, including
Once we reach peak oil, oil will become less available and more expensive. Oil production may reach a peak in the near future, or it may already have peaked. Use your imagination....this will be the end of suburbia and U.S. culture as we know it. This isn't some far away occurance either. It's expected to happen in our lifetime. Some say 20 years from now but it could be sooner.
The U.S. government has know about this for 30 years and done nothing. We may not be able to stop this, but through community we have the power to adapt.
What's the worst thing that can happen? It happens and we're not prepared. Or we can start preparing now and learn how to be self-sufficient so we can feed our families and communities. Community is the answer.
I've joined a local peak group that has weekly meetings with seminars on co-housing, farming, gardening, and other topics. Find a group in your area, region, state, whereever. If you can't find one, start your own.
Want more info? Here are some starting sources.
Documentary:
Books:
The Party's Over by Richard Heinberg
Powerdown by Richard Heinberg
Overshoot by William Catton
Blood and Oil by Michael Klare
Resources Wars by Michael Klare
High Noon For Natural Gas by Julian Darley
Hubbert's Peakby Kenneth Deffeyes
Twilight in the Desert by Matthew Simmons
A Century of War by F. William Engdahl
The End of Oil by Paul Roberts
The Oil Age is Over by Matt Savinar
The Long Emergency by James Howard Kuntsler
Websites:
posted by eclecticlady @ 3:24 PM
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