We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, September 1, 2014

The Peak Oil Crisis: When?

Click here to access article by Tom Whipple from Post Carbon Institute.
For those following the world oil production situation, it has been clear for some time that the only factor keeping global crude output from moving lower is the continuing increase in U.S. shale oil production, mostly from Texas and North Dakota. Needless to say, once the fabled “peak” comes oil and gasoline prices are certain to move higher, triggering a series of economic events – most of which will not be good for the global economy.
....  Usually missing from optimistic estimates for future U.S. shale oil production is any discussion of just how fast production from fracked wells declines.
He concludes along with many independent observers that production will peak during 2016-2017 and will fall off dramatically after that. Could this be one reason why the One Percent ruling class is pursuing foreign adventures so aggressively, and their corporate media has hyped-up its bellicose propaganda in support of these adventures? Considering that their system of capitalism requires growth, the eminent prospect of diminishing supplies of cheap fossil fuels to keep their system going could explain, at least in part, why they are acting so crazy.