Peak Oil, Peak Coal, and Beyond
February 28, 2008 To transcend suffering and attain happiness, to become enlightened, we need the time to practice.
To have the time to practice, we need good fortune.
To utilize good fortune, we need the right conditions.
To foster the right conditions, we need a peaceful society and a healthy planet.
Bottom line: if there’s an environmental meltdown, we’ll be too busy struggling to survive to have the time to practice.
Please make the time to view Jaiaia Donaldson's conversation with Richard Heinberg called Peak Oil, Peak Coal, and Beyond. I’ve watched many of the conversations on Peak Moments Television. Janaia and Robyn Mallgren have done an amazing job of educating us. But instead of my trying to tell you how important their work is and how much I admire their dedication, I’d rather you spend the time viewing this program.
Reader Comments (2)
No more Oil Wars!
Energy Independence Now!
Drill in Anwar.
Build more nuclear power plants
Use More coal.
Use more natural gas
Turn trash into energy
Double the efficiency of windmills and solar cells.
If France can do nuclear power so can we.
If Brazil can do biomass/ethanol power so can we.
If Australia can do LNG power so can we.
Domestically produced energy will end the recession and spur the economy.
Stop paying oil dollars to those who worship daily at the alter of our destruction.
Preserve our Civil Rights and defend our Freedom by ending dependence on foreign oil.
Unlike in the past, we need to consider the consequences of our actions. Are our energy choices using more energy than they create? Are the choices merely postponing the inevitable, thus making it all the more difficult for future generations to survive? Are they exchanging one set of problems for another? Are we using water to grow crops for the wealthy (those who can afford to buy cars) at the expense of those who need water to grow food to feed their families.
Instead of trying to sustain our unsustainable level of energy consumption, we need to reduce that level. George Monbiot calculated that we in the United States need to reduce our consumption by 94% by 2050. There’s no magic technology that will get us out of the terrible situation we have landed ourselves in.
We need to reduce our energy use now. Thirty years ago we might have had the time to build other energy supply and distribution infrastructures. Today, we’re pretty much out of time. Renewable energy like solar, wind, geothermal, etc. will help but only if we dramatically reduce our energy consumption.
Our problem is worldwide for in a global economy, what we do in the US impacts people around the world. We need a major paradigm shift here. Our past economic growth is unsustainable. We’ve overpopulated the world and used up our resources. We in the US and the other developed countries can no longer live in isolation but have to accept responsibility for our actions.
When I use more than my “fair share” I am using the share that belongs to another. To sustain my comfortable life, I am contributing to the starvation of another. That’s a terrible karmic action, the consequence of which to me is unavoidable for when I cause others to suffer, I will suffer.