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| How then, do we move backwards? How does a society, with most of the people having no clue of future events, move from being dependent on a vast and intertwined network of goods and services produced by the indigenous people of whereever, to a local resource and renewable energy based society, and do so in the timeframe available (20-30 years using the most liberal extimates, 10-20 with resonable estimates, 5-10 with worst case scenarios), all the while prices on everything increasing, world politics getting more militaristic, governments continuously reducing civil liberties, shortages of goods on the market and weather patterns resembling bad Hollywood movies?
kpeavey
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a community peak oil portal
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 What will happen when America can't afford to fly?
As the age of cheap oil comes to a close, it's springtime for gloomy futurists. Visions of a brutish world marked by violent squabbles over dwindling reserves, of junkyards littered with abandoned cars, of suburban slums overrun by weeds, of the collapse of industrial agriculture--none of this sounds as outlandish as it once did. Still, most of these horror stories are likely overstated: Energy experts tend to agree that, with a little ingenuity and a generous helping of political will, we could transition away from fossil fuels without being forced to give up our modern lifestyles.
But there's one big exception--an area where a post-carbon world really could mean a radical shift in the way we live. That's the world of commercial flight.
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| Northern Alaskan pumps dry after refinery slowdown |
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 DantesPeak writes: FAIRBANKS, Alaska — At least one Fairbanks area gasoline station was shut down this week after an operations slowdown at Flint Hills Resources' North Pole refinery.
Jeff Cook, a spokesman for Flint Hills Resources Alaska, said the refinery is running, but is experiencing operational problems that affect gasoline production. Flint Hills Resources Alaska is a subsidiary of Wichita, Kan.-based Flint Hills Resources, which is owned by Koch Industries.
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| Cheaper oil slower to show up at pump |
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| WASHINGTON/LONDON (Reuters) - Gasoline retailers in the United States and Europe are not passing on to consumers all their savings from the drop in crude oil prices as they move to recover some of their losses from earlier in the year when oil costs were soaring.
Since hitting a peak above $147 a barrel in July, the price of crude has dropped about $33, or 79 cents a U.S. gallon. U.S. gasoline prices over the same period have declined only 37 cents from the record of $4.11 a gallon to $3.74 this week.
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| Oil surges $6 - crosses $121 mark |
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| NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil surged more than $6 a barrel on Thursday to touch $122 a barrel, as a falling dollar and renewed concerns over the credit crunch motivated investors to move their money back into commodities.
U.S. crude for October delivery rose $5.51 to $121.07 a barrel, having reached as high as $122.04.
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 WHILE oil prices have declined somewhat of late, the volatility of the market and the political and religious unrest in major oil-producing countries has Americans worrying more than ever about energy security. But they have little to fear — contrary to common understanding, there are robust stockpiles of oil around the globe that could see us through any foreseeable calamities on the world market.
True, trouble for the world’s energy supplies could come from many directions. Hurricanes and other natural disasters could suddenly disrupt oil production or transportation. Iran loudly and regularly proclaims that it can block oil exports from the Persian Gulf. The anti-American rhetoric of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela raises fears of an export cutoff there. And ongoing civil unrest wreaks havoc with Nigeria’s output.
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| UK: Two energy firms to raise prices |
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| vox_mundi writes: ...E.On said it would up its gas prices by 26% and electricity bills by 16% on 22 August for domestic customers.
Scottish and Southern followed a few hours later by announcing a 29.2% increase in gas bills, with electricity tariffs up by 19.2% on 25 August.
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| Satellite Images Show Continued Breakup Of Two Of Greenland’s Largest Glaciers |
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 vox_mundi writes: COLUMBUS, Ohio – Researchers monitoring daily satellite images here of Greenland’s glaciers have discovered break-ups at two of the largest glaciers in the last month.
They expect that part of the Northern hemisphere’s longest floating glacier will continue to disintegrate within the next year.
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| Climate change could be impetus for wars, other conflicts, expert says |
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| vox_mundi writes: CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Hurricane season has arrived, sparking renewed debate regarding possible links between global warming and the frequency and severity of hurricanes, heat waves and other extreme weather events.
Meanwhile, a related discussion has ensued among international-security experts who believe climate-change-related damage to global ecosystems and the resulting competition for natural resources may increasingly serve as triggers for wars and other conflicts in the future.
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| Anti-Regulation Aide to Cheney Is Up for Energy Post |
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| vox_mundi writes: A senior aide to Vice President Cheney is the leading contender to become a top official at the Energy Department, according to several current and former administration officials, a promotion that would put one of the administration's most ardent opponents of environmental regulation in charge of forming department policies on climate change.
F. Chase Hutto III has played a prominent behind-the-scenes role in shaping the administration's environmental policies for several years, the officials said, helping to rewrite rules affecting the air that Americans breathe and the waters that oil tankers traverse. In every instance, according to both his allies and opponents, he has challenged proposals that would place additional regulations on industry.
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| Fuel-Saving Hybrid Trucks Focus of HTUF National Conference |
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 vox_mundi writes: CALSTART's Hybrid Truck Users Forum - HTUF ( www.htuf.org) - will hold its 2008 HTUF National Conference, the world's leading medium and heavy-duty hybrid truck forum, October 14-16, 2008 in South Bend, Indiana. The conference will be hosted by Bosch Rexroth and takes place at the South Bend Marriott Hotel and adjacent Century Center, with the world's biggest hybrid truck ride-and-drive at the nearby Bosch Proving Grounds on the final day.
This year's forum takes on added importance with national diesel prices at or over $4 per gallon; hybrid systems can cut fuel use from 20 to more than 50 percent in some truck and bus applications, and they are now entering the market.
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| Peru's army on standby as jungle unrest grows |
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| vox_mundi writes: Relations between indigenous groups and the President Alan Garcia have become increasingly hostile as the government has sought to exploit what are thought to be rich oil and gas deposits in lands owned by Amazon Indians. Energy companies have pushed deep into supposedly protected areas in the past year, leading to clashes with some of the most remote tribal peoples left in the world.
The increasingly unpopular Garcia administration is under pressure due to soaring energy costs and failure to translate economic growth into a general rise in the standard of living. It is actively courting outside energy giants and this week agreed a £2.5bn stake in the state oil company to China.
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| World Geothermal Power Generation Nearing Eruption |
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| vox_mundi writes: With fossil fuel prices escalating and countries searching for ways to reduce oil dependence and greenhouse gas emissions, capturing the earth’s heat for power generation is garnering new attention. First begun in Larderello, Italy, in 1904, electricity generation using geothermal energy is now taking place in 24 countries, 5 of which use it to produce 15 percent or more of their total electricity. In the first half of 2008, total world installed geothermal power capacity passed 10,000 megawatts and now produces enough electricity to meet the needs of 60 million people, roughly the population of the United Kingdom. In 2010, capacity could increase to 13,500 megawatts across 46 countries—equivalent to 27 coal-fired power plants.
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| Russia halts military cooperation with NATO |
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| Official notification from Moscow highlights tension over Georgia clashes
BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO has received a note from Moscow saying Russia is halting military cooperation, in the latest sign of tension over the violence in Georgia, an official said Thursday.
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| Importing food means exporting drought |
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| We need to change the way we eat if we are to tackle the looming catastrophe of water scarcity
...It will be our plates, not our rates, that bear the brunt of water shortage. As today's report from WWF spells out, the amount we spew out of taps is piddling compared with what it takes to make stuff and, especially, to grow our food.
The volumes involved are staggering: the 200 billion litres a second it takes to grow the world's food is like gulping down the Amazon day in, day out. In the UK, we use about 58 bathtubs full of water every day, both directly and in the food we eat and the clothes we wear, and 62% of that comes from other countries. We're eating dry Lake Naivasha in Kenya and Australia's Murray River, as well as running down our own reserves.
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| Big Oil's Washington juggernaut |
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| Under fire for high gas prices, the industry is spending record amounts on influence in Washington. Plus: How it's playing in the presidential race.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- As angry voters spark a barrage of energy bills in Congress, the oil industry is spending record amounts of money protecting its interests.
In what may be surprising to some, the most recent figures from the Center for Responsive Politics show that the oil industry gives a relatively small sum to individual political campaigns - it's 16th on a list of top 50 industries.
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