Energy, Environmental Degradation & Peak Oil #2

Jared Diamond wrote of historical societies that collapsed because of overpopulation, environmental degradation in Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed and carried the lessons forward to those Failed States labelled Terrorist States today. (A must read if you haven't already.)

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One must view photos of oiled sea birds killed when tankers spill their loads or mountaintop mining that destroys watersheds and communities and wonder how far we are from destroying our environment with total disregard.

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We have sat idly by in our insistence of cheap fuel for our gas guzzlers as BIG OIL has impoverished others, contaminated their environments, and enslaved their populations such as in Myanmar.

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We protest ONLY our cost and not those of the innocents forced to live in environments destroyed by our lifestyles.

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A google search of Peak Oil produces a wide array of information and Wikpedia has included an explanation of Hubbert peak theory. Are we there yet?

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Peter Goodchild had this to say:

A number of scientists and engineers have pointed out that the world’s oil production will peak early in the twenty-first century; it has probably already done so. At the beginning of the century, the human race was using about 30 billion barrels of oil per year. By 2030, production will be down to about half of that level.

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Barbara Kates-Garnick in the Boston Globe writes of Presidential Politics and the Price of Energy:

A review of energy policy over the last 25 years reveals a set of lost opportunities and a lack of political will. Yes, we broke the link between energy consumption and economic growth in the industrial sector. But even with energy price volatility, the United States consumed more energy and did not develop green buildings (buildings account for 40 percent of the economy's total energy demand). Nor did we clamor for hybrids (transportation makes up 28 percent of our energy consumption) or invest in smart utility technology so that consumers could receive price signals to monitor and adjust energy use.

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As a footnote, Craig Morris explains how the US actually stifles competition from alternatives and why Europe will continue to surpass the US in Renewables From the Bottom Up .

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Check out the information on Petite Planète