News from April 2011

Peak Oil Aware Biologist John Janovy, Jr. Predicts Future Human Evolution

What Will Human Life Be Like in a Couple of Thousand Years? Obviously there is no way to answer this question of the title for certain, but we can do a little thought experiment that might suggest some answers. Picture yourself in what is now Israel at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion attempting to predict [...]

John Perkins: Libya’s Not About Oil, It’s About Currency and Loans

World Bank President Robert Zoellick Thursday said he hopes the institution will have a role rebuilding Libya as it emerges from current unrest. Zoellick at a panel discussion noted the bank’s early role in the reconstruction of France, Japan and other nations after World War II. “Reconstruction now means (Ivory Coast), it means southern Sudan, [...]

Fukushima still a threat: senior officials

Two senior Japanese officials have warned that there is still a real risk of a catastrophic disaster at the stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. Since Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami seven weeks ago an army of emergency workers has stabilised two of its six reactors but the other four remain volatile. The head of the [...]

Gasoline Gangsters Episode 17: Dead Malls

With the onset of peak oil many North American shopping malls will wither and die. This is the story of five shopping malls where retail dream are already a shoppers worst nightmare. I visit the Honeydale, Rexdale, Gallaria, Wellesworth & The Crossroads Mall. youtube.com

The razor edge of oil prices in our future

Urbanist James Howard Kunstler recently offered a succinct explanation of rising oil prices in a world where demand is increasing while production and new discoveries have irretrievably plateaued: You will recall, perhaps, that hoary old concept, the “bumpy plateau” of the peak oil story. This was the idea that the actual tippy-top “peak” of peak [...]

Shale Oil and the Bakken Shale are all hype

Shale Oil and the Bakken Shale are all hype! The world is currently on oil production plateau. An oil production plateau is peak oil. The easy to get oil has mostly been used up. Oil extraction is becoming harder, more expensive and more energy intensive. The Bakken Formation: How Much Will It Help? http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3868 Shale [...]

Oil and Gas Reserves, Ultimate Recovery, and Resource

We are not running out of oil and we are not running out of gas. Surely the time for alternatives will eventually come but for now their present value is essentially zero and with massive government subsidies it becomes negative, a huge burden on society and economy. More than 160 billion barrels of oil are [...]

What happened to our millions?

Fifty-six, I told the financial planner. That was the magical number I wanted to retire at. My husband said 62. At the time, I had an 18-month-old daughter who I was caring for full time, a husband who had just been promoted, and two 401Ks that were heavily funded in our 20s, as we had [...]

China may have bankrupted itself building high-speed rail

We’re all about high-speed rail, but not if it’s going to bankrupt the world’s second largest economy. Zhao Jian, a professor at Beijing Jiaotong University and a longtime critic of high-speed rail, said he worries that the cost of [the country's high speed rail] project might have created a hidden debt bomb that threatens China’s [...]

What’s a Home Garden Worth?

With the global economy spiraling downward and Mother Nature preparing to reach upward, it’s a good question to ask and a good time to ask it. There isn’t one right answer, of course, but I’ll give you mine: $2149.15. Last year, my wife Jacqueline suggested to me that we calculate the total value of the [...]