Mike Ruppert
Tom Whipple of Falls Church News Press is formidable and brilliant. I have noted previously that he is a retired 20+ year CIA intelligence analyst. He must have been one of their best and most prized for he does what great intelligence analysts do: Before getting down to work, he finds the right questions to ask. That way he is able to extract meaning out of mountains of stimuli.
In his series of articles on Peak Oil, Tom has asked some of the most important questions on the subject: Exactly how much energy is left? Where is it? And what kind is it?
Of course, in Crossing the Rubicon I detailed how I believed that ascertaining that information was exactly the purpose of Dick Cheney’s National Energy Policy Development Group. Remember them? They’re the guys who fought all the way to the Supreme Court twice to keep the records of what they did secret. It was unconstitutional but they did it. I have a whole chapter on it.
Since these are the vital questions, let's not waste time and money creating a whole new global inventory. Let's just do what it takes to get the NEPDG Records released. The work’s already been done.
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Ok. Where do we start? As you say, Cheney & Co. twice fought this battle right up to the Supreme Court and by hook or by crook, particularly the latter, got away with murder yet again.
We live in a rigged system as you have often pointed out. I'm heartened to hear this battle cry which seems pitch perfect, but I also don't know what we're supposed to do next.
Exactly -- I'm with Jenna -- What do we do, Mike? We haven't gotten it from the Supreme Court; we won't get it from Congress; Demonstrations are ignored ; Using elections as leverage won't work if the elections are going to be rigged, again, anyway. ...We need some kind of a brilliant, completely unexpected, completely off the wall, creative way to get this demand heard and met. I'm all for aikido, myself, letting them fall (or drawing them) into the path of their own momentum, but how that might work in this case, I have no idea.
This discussion raises the question of what difference it makes at this point who's in power, in office. If the world is going to hell in a handbasket, would Democrats just slow the process down a little? Questions that I hope will be addressed in the teleseminar Tuesday. If they're not, I'll probably raise them. Just using this opportunity for another plug.
Cool -- wish I could be there -- is it going to be recorded and will that be made available afterwards?
here's the link for the teleseminars. i've also pasted in the option available for those who aren't available the night of the event.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/Teleseminars.shtml
DOWNLOADABLE MP3 FILES
For those who have purchased a teleseminar and who are unable to attend, a special PIN code will be issued once FTW has been contacted after the event and advised that a paid entrant missed the call. These people will then be able to access a special link to a one-time-play-only MP3 file of the event. (*Please note: The mp3 link will only be active for 48 hours after the event.)
Unfortunately we cannot make this service available for everyone as FTW will be paying 4 cents per minute for each download at no cost to the customer.
PIN codes will be changed for each new program.
I like Tom Whipple.
As for the NEPDG records, I don't believe they'll be released until the next Dem candidate is seated in the throne and is in full gear to announce "The Choice" (Zbigniew Brzezinski - 2004) to the world. At that moment, the Dems will play the role of rational restraint, giving the appearance once again as global leader and not global dominator. They'll lead the blind and the naked (aka those who haven't a clue what the hell is going on or why) into the next phase of their forced global integration plan.
That phase will consist of a prolonged "coming out" party fror the US that will possibly reveal elements of the NEPDG, among other things. The goal will be to use the Dem party in the classic Dragnet role of good cop/bad cop. Americans caught up in Dem lies will cheer. Those caught up in GOP lies will cry foul. To 99.5% of voters it'll look like partisan politics at it's worst - or at it's best, depending upon which side of the aisle you've confined yourself to.
But in reality, it'll be among the most successfull bipartisan con jobs ever pulled off. The Dems walk the entire country out from under a cloud of global shame as neocon elements of the GOP are implicated in warmongering. The BBC/CNN coalition organization of Al-Jazeera reports that all is well in the White House. And the end result is that MEFTA is finally wrapped up and ratified by all prospective members - including Iran, Syria, and Libya.
The Middle East phase of global integration will be complete, with the exeption of global troops, such as NATO or newly forming UN forces, who remain to continue dominance in nations like Iraq have been dragged unwillingly.
At that point the Dems'll be free to step into Darfur and other parts of African looking like heroes. In the process they'll satisfy the "humanitarian" Dem and hawkish GOP automatons. It'll actually provide a moment of respite and unity among the victims of non-stop propaganda and distraction, who'll collectively think "this is a just war that we can all support".
And in that carefully planned and executed false flag maneuver, the next step of the global domination will be near complete. The UN will be praising the Dems, possibly committing newly formed UN forces composed of African troops join in the fray. When fighting is over the African Union will be raised to it's full potential as a regional trade entity.
And the NEPDG? It'll be long since forgotten. The "bad guy" neocons who messed things up are gone and now the "good guys" have stepped up as global leaders, not global dominators. At least in the eyes of the worlds uninformed. For the rest of us, we'll know the truth. It's just one more step on the road to Empire.
bush calling on the u.n..... accepting chinese offers of help.... it's an entertaining scenario.
bush calling on the u.n..... accepting chinese offers of help.... it's an entertaining scenario.
Dredd,
I fully agree.
That's part of my premise that we'll be played (once again) in a good cop/bad cop routine. If recent history is any kind of teacher, the senior advocates to the political wing of the corporatists have spoken.
The only way to effectively bring about their recommended changes is to install the Dems. Don't forget that the CEO of Diebold shares a seat on the same private foreign policy council as folks like Gore, Kerry, Dean, Clinton, and Lieberman - along side of GHW Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Negreponte, etc.
The soft dictatorship isn't a new concept that began in 2000. It's been around for decades. The new twist is that electronic voting machines make it a that much easier for them to manipulate the results.
Ok,I'm trying not to get excited about this,because it might not mean anything.Some one posted this in a chat group on MySpace titled 9/11 Truth.I go in there from time to time to attempt to draw more attention to Peak Oil,and to attempt to steer attention away from people wanting to debate physical evidence,and all of the hoaxes that are linked to it,which is like the guy trying to plug the dam with his fingers and toes because there are so many people caught up with the disinfo.
Anyways,I was skimming through the top 5 topics,and I noticed one titled "The Most Explosive 9/11 Documentary Is Coming To Theatres".Curious,I clicked on it and played this trailer that the poster aparently googled.It is the trailer for the movie "9/11:Press For Truth",which it says is based on Paul Thompson's book "Terror Timeline" and is supported by the "Jersey Girls"(that explains Ann Coulter's recent book attacking them;a little pre-damage control I guess).
I almost posted this in Mike Rupperts Dixe Chicks blog,because the trailer starts out with an excellent song "2+2=5" by Radiohead from their album "Hail to the Thief" and ends with another goodie from Dave Mathews Band's latest album "Stand Up".
But then I thought of this blog,and got the idea that this could possibly be an avenue to persue the NEPDG records.If this film opens an official investigation(I hesitate to use the word re-opens)using much of the same evidence I presume is found in "Crossing the Rubicon"(I haven't yet read "Terror Timeline",so I'm not aware of what is included),and also at www.cooperativeresearch.org,then it may be possible that the Bush Administration at least could be toast.From there I would have to hope further evidence would come to light implicating people higher up the ladder than the Neo-cons,as well as elements of allied countries who share complicity.Then again,from my research at FTW I would have to guess that the chances of any of the elites going down as a result of this film aren't very likely.But still...
I was also wondering,if 9/11 did get brought back to trial,would the public need a reminder that the Neo-cons got to choose a few of the Supreme Court Justices,and that it presents a conflict of interest were they to be involved in any decision having to do with the trial.I hate to be so hopeful right off the bat like this,but as 9/11 was the foot in the door for the Neo-cons to accomplish whatthey have since then(Patriot Act,Homeland Security Act,occupation of oil producing regions...etc)the hopefully so too could it be the foot in the door for activists to right those wrongs,and gain release of the NEPDG records,Reagan papers that haven't been released,Clinton Papers...etc.
Does anyone think there is cause to hold on to this shred of hope,or am I jumping the gun?
P.S. I just hope the "Jersey Girls" took the instruction(only fools give advice;Mike Ruppert's momma didn't raise no fool)I witnessed Mike Ruppert give them on the "Denial Stops Here:9/11 Peak Oil and Beyond" DVD.Most clear in my memory is Mike telling them to stop refering to the governments response to the attacks as "failure", and to start refering to so called failures' as intentional criminal acts.
matt, i'll take the bait. why don't you want the nepdg records released?
certainly the neocons will do whatever is in their own best interest which they equate with the best interests of the human race as a whole. how do they arrive at this conclusion? because they're the living embodiment of the doctrine of survival of the fittest. certainly they will be by the time they're finished and they're the only ones left apart from a cheap labor class that serves them. i'm not sure a nuclear bomb on home ground is in their own best interest but i do get your point.
Ok,I agree defintely not a nuclear bomb if they wanted infastructure to remain intact,but like Matt said more likely a bio-weapon.It gives the phrase "You'll never take me alive!" a frightening twist.
Paula,
I agree. From a relocalization perspective it makes no difference, besides possibly providing some hard data to re-inforce the necessity to make changes now.
However, from the perspective of building a case to show an Administration agenda to gain access to and/or control of global energy resources - primarily in Central Asia and in the Middle East - I have no doubt that there's plenty of material within the NEPDG documents to support the charge.
The problem with such a charge - if held up under public scrutiny - is that the best it would do is to remove the GOP party from the White House, and possibly from it's majority stranglehold over Congress.
Awakened conservatives looking for honest representation would turn to third party candidates while the Dems maintain their now vindicated primary base, opening the door for a Dem takeover.
In other words, we'd be right back in the same boat. We'd be facing the other side of the same coin and the Empire would continue. New face, different texture, but with the same substance and value as the GOP.
Well, there is one place that I know of that might be a possibility for those looking for a place to relocate to -- Fairfield, Iowa -- home of Maharishi University of Management.
The advanages are:
-small town (no car needed)
-inexpensive houses (some for less than $50K)
-locally grown organic vegetables
-attracts an interesting group of spiritually-minded people
-University atmosphere
-local currency
-a most relaxed environment
http://www.fairfieldmarket.com/about-fairfield.php
Okay, here's my story of getting out from under...my husband and I were just in the process of buying just about the cheapest house in Tahoe in 1999 when he got diagnosed with 4th stage lung cancer. So, of course, he had to quit working and there is a mandatory waiting period of 6 mos. before you can receive your first check, even if you are dying. So, was supporting us on a $10 per hour job and had to make the $350 COBRA payments off the top. The mortgage payment was just about equal to my entire take home pay. What to do? I rented out four rooms in the house. My husband lived 9 months. After that, I continued to live communally with my boarders and work.It was great. What a wonderful collection of interesting people who helped me through tough times. Eventually, I re-married and my new husband helped to fix up the house. He was retired, so we had a little over $600 a month from his social security in addition to my job. After a total of five years of owning the home, we sold it for twice what I paid for it.
Then, we went to central Oregon and bought just about the cheapest 1 acre lot in Deschutes Co. with a mobile home on it for $61,500 cash. Put in a new well, new septic, got a greenhouse, planted a garden,stored up a years worth of food, and now we are raising some chickens, too. I'm working part-time at the local community newspaper, making friends and contacts and attempting to turn people on to localization.
The revolution has to happen in your heart and mind first. Honor whatever you hold sacred and ask for help in knowing that you are free. Then form yourself a tribe of people who will pool the resources. Even if only 5 people have only a $1,000 a month,that's $5,000 a month! Any five person household can live on less than that. Each one buys the food and cooks for everybody once a week. Two nights a week you're on your own. Chores are divied up. Once a week, have a house circle to maybe get stoned and share your thoughts with each other. Turn off the freaking tube and bake some bread or something. Make some music. Plant a garden. Be free. Be grateful that the Earth is making it possible to stop the corporate agenda by cutting off the oil. Cultivate love in your hearts and wake up from the trance they've put us in. We can do this.
aho
freeacre, that's so much the sort of story we need to hear that i'd thank you even if you'd made the whole thing up.
I swear to you that every word is true. In fact, come to La Pine and we'll show you anytime!
may i join in the chorus of neighborhood dogs who do appreciate what you've done.
from Dark Woods: (Some sections have been cut for legal reasons. The cuts are denoted by more than three dots.)
Needing advice:
I live in a landslide area now (126 homes slid down the ridge and devalued us for 8 years). Last year was the first year we could again sell. My husband is 10 years older than me( 67 ) and insecure to move. These are the pluses and minuses:
Impossible clay soil-nothing grows unless elevated. We do have fruit trees though.I did have a garden years ago but when we added on to the house the builders put the soil on top of it when I was downtown. Hurt my knee so didn't fancy dragging more soil up here at that time. Have bought veggies at local markets downtown.
Downtown: 2 sister cities-combined population at least 50,000-60,000
Everything within walking distance. Train stop included.
On I5 corridor. Two ports nearby.
Three rivers, Columbia, Cowlitz, Coweeman, lots of fish, but polluted.
Neighbors a bunch of redneck loggers, fishermen and hunters.
Lots of deer and game here.I love the deer but am almost the only one that doesn't shoot them.
We have fireplace and can burn wood if we want. We can live very simply (MY husband is from Scotland and they don't get that canny reputation for nothing)
We have no heat on at night for example.
There is a creek down the bank at the back-way down-which neighbors used years ago-in 1930's. City keeps trying to develop landslides behind us but we've stopped it all so far.
House could still slide if a lot more rain for a couple more years.
The nuclear power plant 10 miles south has had the funnel taken down last month and has not been used in 20 yrs-still there are radioactive rods somewhere on the grounds.
The city governments are corrupt and the newspaper also won't listen to peak oil and doesn't publish the criminal activity of the logging community.I am taking Washington state extension classes this summer in practical stuff-gardening, canning etc.
My son lives 35 miles to the south in Vancouver and works at the Portland airport. He thinks I need a psychologist to envison the glass half full. He doesn't like Bush at all but he still thinks this is too farfetched. My daughter teaches 35 1st graders in Portland and says she doesn't have time to worry about it. She lives a very simple life and says well if I lose the money, I lose my money..not worth worrying about..I admire her. Neither have any debts and put themselves through college. I can't convince either to move. Do I put my foot down(i've already tried) and get my husband to move somewhere out to the country and hope they come someday? My son is fairly high up already in his company and may get to keep his job. He is planning on buying a house in SEpt-I made him wait a year and he is upset as he could have gotten a cheaper inerest rate. My remaining family on my side is in California and thinks I am nuts(in the bay area-Los Gatos (seems unsafe?) and some up north in Eureka) My husband's family is in Scotland.My kids qualify for a British passport and dual citizenship-my daughter took it, my son hasn't bothered???(Into northwest sports-(also my husband will never give up his satellite because of soccer)
Are my kids who are soon 26 and 28 going to get drafted?
What about Canada-sounds like it may be under our military hands from some FTW report I read. What countries do they not send kids back that are drafted?
I love the coast having grown up in California but I kept wondering if growing conditions ok, if we'd get invaded there. I love the old trees like the forest we used to have behind us-it grew up and looks forested still but not like the giant old growth cool paths we had on warm summer days. I guess I am a northern girl now-want my woods. Eagles and owls and deer everyday.
My husband had a fit when I tried putting the house on the market....but it is higher here now than ever before as it's the last cheap place to live. Lots of country outside of here but takes a while to drive if you live far out.???
Will northwest get invaded by China???
I want to be near my kids-my bottom line...
What can they do in the new order when everything fails..my daughter can still teach I imagine-what should my son think about. He at least is preparing himself for change and thinking of alternative work...He's wellspoken, can talk anybody into anything without trying...works with figures...is a comptroller in management, number 4 in his company rank-is 27.
If I move..I have been looking...I can't afford anything ....unless it's jsut the land and a manufactured home.I coudl maybe afford to build a house but husband is not keen on building -says "look at lcost of wood"
Should I sell everything and go to an area I would like to be and buy when it all crashes?
What about Vancouver Island or British Columbia...I like the scenery..and my son likes to golf and ski. I would like to do an art gallery on river below me in our town now and soil is perfect but it is so close to town I would get overrun with my garden when the crunch hits???
MY Neighborhood now: close in but difficult to access, cliff at one end on top of ridge with the eagles.
Neighbors mostly a bunch of red necks except for retired head of Fish and Wildlife. I am friendly enough with them but not my kind of people. Lots of guns...In fact one guy sells them. This is the wild west and these guys could live off the land. I appreciate advice-sorry this is so selfish a blog.
I like YES magazine off the OLympic peninsula-last one was," Are you ready for when the empire fails-it doesn't have to be a negative..." They list happenings.
Also there is a group out of Astoria to give lectures and help on survival-think it's on the web under lifeboat something...
I thought of need for medical help when my 85 year old mom was in hospital twice-I was thinking I'd offer a naturopath a free place to visit twice a year...I found they are way better than regular medicine. If I had something wrong, I'd probably move to Canada or someplace with socialized medicine.
Loved the ingenuity of Free acre............ Today I saw that the US judge is not going to stop logging while he considers his opinion of Mike's Gulch timber sale in the South Kalmiopsis Roadless Area of the Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest in Southern Oregon. I'd recommend John Karpinski (spotted owl lawyer 360 690 4500)
I appreciate any advice and all support. I love FTW as they are courageous and it gives me motivation and awareness.I was appallingly ignorant. I keep trying to tell people and thank God I don't care what others think of me. If I do it enough and I am stubborn, I start to get through. I do realize and back off sometimes for awhile.
Dark Woods
if memory serves, FTW has a section available to subscribers that lists the status of various countries vis a vis a U.S. draft i.e. whether they have an extradition treaty, are members of ANZUS etc.
Matt,
Yes of course it takes money - no doubt about it. But, I bought my home for $149,000 and then it sold, seemingly miraculously, for $349,900. Yea! My point was that if I hadn't had the boarders and been willing to live with others, etc., I would not have been able to hang onto the house so that it could appreciate in value. For once, I really lucked out because the home values started to climb, just after I signed the papers on the house. Before that I had been every kind of working poor - kid with cancer, medical bill bankruptcy, you name it. Impossible to get ahead. So, I totally sympathize.
I still say that people working together is the only way to get ahead. Even if it's just getting a lot, circling some yurts or motor homes, or whatever, building a common building in the middle (even if it's a teepee). Or several people on social security renting a home together. You have to be able to live on less than you make, and most can't do that and maintain separate households. Those McMansions will sell real cheap when the bubble really bursts. Second home owners might let people live in them for free just for keeping them in good shape. Who knows? (Seventy percent of the homes in South Lake Tahoe -where I was from- are second homes. Ruined the town.)We need to help each other out. Those with some extra cash will take in those without it, but have some skill or at least muscle. We insulated our garage to be a bunkhouse, for instance. I don't like the Mad Max scenario (although the leather pants are pretty good.) I go for The Postman. But, each to his own.
I'm just counseling to take heart. Sometimes things can turn out better than you would have dreamed when you just follow your own heart. Murph is right about no guarantees. We could get an asteroid hit or a heart attack tomorrow and that's that. Shit, we are surrounded by 40 volcanic cinder cones! But, I have loved the process.
Edward wrote the following. I cut the first two lines because, well... if you read to the end you'll figure it out. Thanks, Edward.
...And I also want to say something to Mike. I think you're kind of hard on Alex Jones. I don't agree with everything Alex says, but I agree with a lot of it. Sometimes the cold rational analysis doesn't excite people's imaginations. Alex gets fired up and I find that entertaining. I was listening to Noam Chomsky on Democracy Now and, though I agreed with most of what he said, his low flat monotone was lethal. You may say it's a sad age that needs a showman to get people's attention, but that's the way it is. And if I'm blowing any chance with Jenna by saying this - so be it! No, Jenna, I didn't mean that.....
it's fine with me. it would also be helpful if the quote linked to the blog.
not sure about blog copyright law which is uncharted territory but i imagine you'd also need or at any rate prefer freeacre's agreement. i don't know her email. with few exceptions, comments arrive without email addresses attached.
Matt,
OK by me, unless it is a neo-con website...:)
The woman (very young at the time if I recall) who wrote Possum Living was Dolly Freed. She and her parents lived somewhere outside of Philadelphia, and her father decided he didn't want to work anymore,... her mom left, so that left Dolly and "lazy old daddy" to fend for themselves, living off the land in suburban Philly. I've still got it around here in my library, somewhere, I think... and I just googled it -- looks like it's still available.
lol...the "blindingly white ass of doom!" Now, there's a visual. I guess that's a handy weapon that a lot of us have and have not thought to utilize. Thanks!
Mike,
I'm a little disappointed that you haven't gotten on board with SOLAR, WIND, and TIDE GENERATION. These technologies are here right now, and can reduce fossil energy usage by enormous amounts if the massive government subsidies were redirected at them. Solar panels have been powering a still-active satellite since the 1950's. There is enough wind power in 7 states alone to power the entire US grid. And tide generation is coming along, though not quite here yet, but it looks as promising as the other two. THIS is where individuals can make a real difference by taking control of their own power generation. Why aren't you seriously advocating for this?
John Doraemi publishes Crimes of the State at:
http://crimesofthestate.blogspot.com/
wind etc are wonderful but they don't approach the 'energy returned on energy invested' of oil
btw even as we speak 60 minutes is airing its piece on oil sands in alberta for the third time. 'if you haven't heard of them, you're in for a big surprise: they can solve america's energy problems for the next century.'
what about if you have heard of them and they can't?
A question for Mike
You have often said that we need to change the way that money works.
Can you explain?
i'm not going to attempt to interpret mike but that line probably refers to the ponzi-like structure of the current economy which, because of the necessity of paying interest, has to keep growing forever or else collapse. nothing can grow forever except cancer, not a model one wants to base anything on. more workable would be a 'steady state' economy such as is advocated by herman daly.
Furthering Jenna's "Nothing can grow forever except cancer" analogy, I'd add that cancer can't grow forever, either -- eventually it spreads into other vital systems until the host is no longer able to function, which seems to be what's happening now?
I'm interested in finding our more about what a steady state economy would look like.
FTW admin said...
btw even as we speak 60 minutes is airing its piece on oil sands in alberta for the third time. 'if you haven't heard of them, you're in for a big surprise: they can solve america's energy problems for the next century.'
what about if you have heard of them and they can't?
I hear about oil sands on a regular basis. My employer is probably engaged in more Fort McMurray facility construction, processor installations, and contract management than any other company in the world. I'm not in that end of the business but I get the regular updates.
I suspect that those in position to make money off of it will continue to do just that, regardless of the facts surrounding output and it's impact on global supply. The bottom line is that they're not mining for oil, but for dollars. As long as the money keeps flowing, the projects will continue, regardless of the peak and the state of global energy and finance.
And that's why "60 Minutes" wants to drill the issue into your heads. They're saying "this is important, this is your future, this is why you must spend." After the third running of the piece the producer most likely sent an email out to CBS board members with one brief but succinct phrase: "cha-ching!"
I may not be getting the email but I did get the message.
"Matt Savinar said...
John,
Mike does advocate that stuff."
All I've heard from him is doom and gloom, and a complete dissing of alternative technologies. This is defeatist, and out of line with current trends, where billions are being spent investing in them right now. There has been a large shortage of solar panels worldwide because Europe and Asia are buying them up, while Americans remain asleep.
" However, in order for wind and solar to offset just 1% of our current petroleum consumption, they would need to be scaled by 3,300%!"
So what? That will happen anyway. The question is: why isn't it happening? Because the WILL to do it isn't there. The technology is there and SO IS THE OIL, which shoots down your next argument. There is no oil crisis, where we are unable to power machinery to develop infrastructure. I can go anywhere in the world and buy as much oil as I want right now. This defeatist reasoning is counterproductive to an extreme.
"Keep in mind that right now 1 out of every 6-10 jobs in the U.S. is dependent on the automobile manufacturing industry."
Whether true or not, the automobile itself needs to change. Electric is going to come back, and the power for those electric vehicles can be made from solar, wind and tide.
" Meanwhile, about 1 out of every 8-10 dollars of global GDP is flows either directly or indirectly from the aviatino industry."
Lockheed flew a modified L1011 in 1979 that ran on hydrogen. This is quarter of a century old technology. It is the will, not the technical limitations we need to address.
"Neither of these industries can be run on anything remotely comparable to their current scale on wind/solar etc."
Yes they can.
We're talking quantity, economies of scale. We spent 100 years building an oil infrastructure. We need to spend the next 100 building a wind, solar, and tide infrastructure.
" That's just two examples where wind, solar, and other green altgerantives simply don't cut it from a net energy and energy density perspective."
I do not buy this. Saying it doesn't make it so.
" And what does it take to manufacture these giant solar and wind farms? Lots and lots of petroluem."
Which we have, right now. What we don't have is the will to do it.
" You ever see what a copper mine pit looks like? You can't drill one of those without massive, amssive oil powered machines."
We will eventually have similar machines powered by electricity, hydrogen, or whatever. You're trying to stay stuck in yesterday's paradighm. Right now, however, I don't see the problem here at all.
" And you need a lot of copper for wind and solar to work."
I've never heard of any copper shortage crisis. Pennies aren't even worth the cent they have printed on them, as far as I know. Stop concocting false reasons why we can't do what people ARE doing all over the world as we speak.
" So these alternatives really can't do much to offset our current collossal consumption."
Which is exactly the point I am refuting. They can do AS MUCH as we allow them to do. There is NO artificial cap on renewables. There is NO force that blindly limits their application. The arguments you present are not deal breakers. They are simply problems to be overcome, and a description of current challenges (mostly summed up by BIG MONEY INVESTMENT NEEDED). As far as "colossal consumption" goes, there is colossal waste that needs to be cut back. And will. Cutting waste and improving efficiency will be a major component that also needs to be stated.
Seeing how we're not going to have much of a choice in a few years. These alternative fuel industries will take off and explode, despite the nay sayers. It would make a lot more sense to put our efforts (including our NATIONAL EFFORTS) into these solutions sooner, rather than later.
(Step one: arrest the White House, of course...)
i'm going to leave most of this to matt but in fact at the moment pennies are worth more than the penny they're printed on.
your arguments raise the question of triage of remaining oil resources which upcoming blogposts will treat in greater depth.
FOLLOW UP:
"megawatt solutions we have, but our
problems are terrawatt in size."
And I repeat that we have solutions to the
energy/survival problems that we face, be
they terrawatt or petawatt, or whatever
astronomical unit you think you can put out
there to discourage me. But it is going to require a planet-wide paradigm shift. That means individuals are going to have to
change the way they do energy consumption,
waste and production.
Energy is everywhere. Harnessing it is the issue. The desire to harvest one's own energy (becoming a producer/consumer,
instead of just a consumer) is the main barrier that mankind needs to overcome.
This is something new to most of humanity,
and as such, it is not embraced easily.
That is the question of will, which I
repeatedly refer to. The technology is
there, the resources are there, the energy is there. These concepts have been proven
repeatedly. Implementation is the stage we
are getting to, slowly.
Only the desire to change our relationship
to this energy consumption model is needed.
If everyone had solar roofs, then getting
one would not be out of the ordinary, or
even cause for lengthy thought and analysis. It would just be. If everyone
lived under solar roofs, it would be a
different world. This one step, alone,
would change the entire energy economy, not even discussing all the other options at our disposal.
What if the government bought you half a roof? Every roof in America that needed
replacement got a free southward facing solar array, free of charge, in the
interest of "National Security?"
How would that flip the situation upside
down?
How many solar tile factories would spring
up overnight?
Large wind turbines (one unit that powers
1,000 homes) can be built at strategic
locations where high winds never stop.
These are large investments ... but THEY WORK.
Every bit of coast has more energy potential sitting there than most people
can imagine.
In the 1970's, I believe, there was a cover
image on Popular Science, of a tower in the
desert surrounded by a half circle
of concentric mirrors on sun-tracking rigs. This "solar furnace" design would mimic nuclear power plants which boil water to steam and turn generator turbines. Easily available technology, nothing special,
nothing beyond the capabilities of modern industry: where are these towers today?
I've never seen one. Capturing energy can be as easy as a black
pipe with water flowing through it in the day. For every btu of energy you capture yourself, that's a btu of energy that doesn't have to be taken out of the ground somewhere (added to the transportation
costs and inefficiencies associated with
converting it into the form you need it).
People need to rethink their energy needs
and wasteful practices from the ground up.
This requires a worldwide shift in thinking. And I don't want to hear how it
can't be done. I know it can. If you put
billions of people on the same page, shit
happens.
We're going to move into a world where 20 million American SUVs aren't
wasting as much fuel as possible for no
particular reason whatsoever. That's a good thing. The situation we're in was by
design and through manipulation, and the American people were all-too-willing participants (accomplices). The sooner these fools feel the economic "pain" of their idiotic choices, the better. That "collosal consumption" will be addressed one way or another.
As people who know better now, WE should be
leading the way and actively ADVOCATING for
these technologies as much as ossible.
The small determined groups sparking great changes motif fits here. That is why I am
disappointed in Ruppert's statements on
alternative fuels, and why I don't accept
the dereatist (and often bogus) reasoning
of the nay sayers in this "peak oil
movement."
We DON'T NEED a "peak oil movement." We
need an "alternative energy movement."
Image is everything, no? Wasting bandwith
trying to get people to care about an
economic chart (the "peak"), seems silly to
me, when we could be convincing people how
and why they can change the "facts on the
ground."
Back to the "terrawatts." Just the other
day, from this very blog I clicked to
renewableenergyaccess.com (a GREAT
site),and learned that: "At capacity, the factory could turn out enough solar cells each year to generate 430 megawatts of
electricity, said Nanosolar CEO Martin
Roscheisen."
That's nearly half of a gigawatt (1/1000 of a terrawatt) per year, from one factory.
What we need is one or more of these factories in every state of the union, with some start up capital raided from the
Pentagon, and things like my half a roof
program getting them out there everywhere.
This is an economic problem, not a
technical impossibility. It's time we
started treating it as such.
To that end, I would really like to see
Ruppert quit with the sky is falling, and start getting people to take THIS stuff
seriously. His casual dismissals of the
technologies of the future (despite proven track records, and a clean bill of health)
strike me as disengenuous.
Ruppert has been accused of hyping this
peak oil thing for questionable reasons (by
Daniel Hopsicker for one, not by myself).
Ruppert spends a lot of energy and focus on
telling us the sky is falling (which makes
skyrocketing prices for oil seem
reasonable).
Where is his similar commitment to DOING
SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
Case in point is this thread about getting the Dick Cheney energy meeting stuff made public. What for? What will that change? It's a six year old story, with no interest from the public whatsoever. With a corrupt congress, nothing will be done anyway. Why go down this road?
When you could be taking their power away from them one wind turbine at a time, one solar array at a time, and getting thousands, perhaps millions to follow suit? At least don't discourage other committed people from pursuing real world solutions. That's what I don't accept.
We have large problems, yes. That's why putting the solutions front and center is required.
What I believe some of you guys are doing is pretending that the solutions aren't really solutions, that people shouldn't even try. That's what bugs me to no end. If the boat is leaking, grab a bucket. Don't show me a chart.
John - Your solutions are great but you need to recognize who your friends are. Few in the peak oil movement are saying 'bring it on.' we would love the problems to be solved with sustainable technologies. but these technologies will not support an economic system that's based on a ponzi scheme and hurtling full steam towards collapse.
"but these technologies will not support an economic system that's based on a ponzi scheme and hurtling full steam towards collapse."
Why is supporting this "ponzi scheme" economy supposed to be my goal?
I'm talking about transforming the economy to a distributed energy production model, instead of a concentrated oligarchy model.
Seeing the old pollution heavy, waste heavy, corruption driven model wither and die is a positive, not a negative.
I'm not sure why you guys argue the things you do. And I'm not sure you do either.
I was not advocating a ponzi scheme; the description was ironic (though also accurate.) and we have a very clear sense of why we argue what we do. it has to do with pragmatism
Here's an idea, though it may seem juvenile of me to suggest. What if Joe Blow Average Citizen knew about the NEPDG Records secret & unconstitutional status? What if it were on T-shirts, bumper stickers and what if it was a day of NO WORK AS USUAL and what if some celeb started asking & talking about it? It must become more public somehow. How do you get everyone talking about it like it's Colby Bryant or Kim in North Korea?
We know the useless media that works so hard at stopping Democracy won't talk about it. I didn't know about it until I read about it in Crossing The Rubicon.
Comedian, Lewis Black jokes about this administration emphasizing same sex marriages as the most important issue of the day while they have no energy policy. (Actually they do it's called Cheney.) That's the NEPDG records story and Iraq, Iran, etc. etc.
It's a small thing but so many millions of people don't know about it in a fashion to even care. What if we started an N.R.G. Day separate from Earth Day traditionally,April 22nd but not that day, another day.
How about a national dark Monday where no body goes to work but takes a vacation day, etc. A timeout, a day called, N.o R.egular G.overnment Day. NRG Day. You'd have to be a non-consumer that day to make it work. Release of the NEPDG Records could be the reason for the NRG day, like a Gas-out.
I once asked Pete Wilson, Governor of CA if he'd give us an NRG day on a Monday or Friday once a month during summer to help with the so-called energy & budget crisis but got no answer; not even after providing him with serious information on how it would save the state billions. He thought it more important to bounce checks and give an I.O.U. to CA employees instead of their paychecks. Typical. I also asked two more California Governors and got no answer. Not even a form letter. I did some homework with Physical Plants at State Buildings and Campuses. They said it saves billions in energy costs to have a planned shut down for 3 days. The CA Energy Commission never responded to the idea either.
A National NRG Day could be a great way to call attention to the NEPDG Records Release. A bit far out but still possible if organized. We have to keep on pecking away at the sore spots. Word of mouth is powerful. Too many damn secrets, if only they (Americans) knew. Films like Aaron Russo's, "America from Freedom to Fascism" being released this month will help. We need 20 more like it.
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