Earth Equity News

Running on Empty. By Mark Hertsgaard, Nation, April 24, 2008. "It used to be that only environmentalists and paranoids warned about running out of oil. Not anymore. As climate change did over the past few years, peak oil seems poised to become the next big idea commanding the attention of governments, businesses and citizens the world over. The arrival of $119-a-barrel crude and $4-a-gallon gasoline this spring are but the most obvious signs that global oil production has or soon will peak... Though largely unnoticed by the world media, a decisive moment in the peak oil debate came last September, when James Schlesinger declared that the 'peakists' were right. You don't get closer to the American establishment and energy business than Schlesinger, who has served as chair of the Atomic Energy Commission, head of the CIA, Defense Secretary, Energy Secretary and adviser to countless oil companies... Schlesinger said, 'It's no longer the case that we have a few voices crying in the wilderness. The battle is over. The peakists have won.' Schlesinger added that many oil company CEOs privately agree that peak oil is imminent but don't say so publicly... At first glance, one might think that peak oil would help the fight against climate change. After all, less available oil should translate into less oil consumption and lower greenhouse gas emissions. But modern civilization, to borrow George W. Bush's term, is addicted to oil. If peak oil arrives before the addiction is treated, the junkie will seek even more dangerous ways to get his fix... Activists in scores of towns and cities around the world are trying to prepare their communities for the transition to a post-oil economy. Rather than wait for national governments and multinational corporations to save them, these ordinary citizens are examining how their communities can produce their own energy, food, buildings and other essentials using local resources rather than materials that arrive from afar via oil-based transport... In Britain... Rob Hopkins...drawing on the experience of his hometown of Totnes, in Devon, has just published The Transition Handbook, which explains how other towns can also begin preparing for the post-oil future."