With the arrival of Peak Oil, the curtain has closed on Act 1 of the drama Petroleum Man. What will happen in Act 2? Chekhov said, "If there's a gun on the wall at the beginning of the play, by the end it must go off." In the world's nuclear arsenal are many guns on the wall. If life copies art, will there be an Act 3 in which the players, having learned their lesson the hard way, live sustainably? To explore these and other questions... FTW's Act 2 Blog. Read, comment, take heart! Orkin
is the ageing infrastructure of the petroleum economy. The current US infrastructure was built with cheap and abundant oil, which is no longer cheap or abundant. I am sticking by the prediction I made a short time ago: The infrastructure will never be rebuilt, and the only way to go from here is downhill. The US is the harbinger of things to come for other modern oil-driven economies. The Great Fall-Apart hath begun.
Rice Farmer - I agree in general, however in the specific case of this bridge, the Republican Convention is to be held next summer in St. Paul and the hotels are on the other side of the river. This bridge would be a constant reminder of the failure of their policies, so I expect it will miraculously rise from the ashes before then.
In addition I predict they will use it as an excuse to privatize even more public works and give the contracts to those who contribute the most to their election campaigns.
In the long run, you are right, of course. There will be neither money nor energy to repair the thousands of deficient bridges in the US (and no point in doing it).
The Jersey Girls deserve more answer than they got from the 9/11 Commission
ReplyDeletehttp://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=74
The Minnesota bridge collapse is just the beginning. Behind this -- as noted in this article
ReplyDeletehttp://rawstory.com/news/afp/Bridge_collapse_raises_questions_ov_08022007.html
is the ageing infrastructure of the petroleum economy. The current US infrastructure was built with cheap and abundant oil, which is no longer cheap or abundant. I am sticking by the prediction I made a short time ago: The infrastructure will never be rebuilt, and the only way to go from here is downhill. The US is the harbinger of things to come for other modern oil-driven economies. The Great Fall-Apart hath begun.
Everyone in the Cheney/Bush junta has amnesia. They remember nothing.
ReplyDeleteRumsfeld did a perfect imitation of Sergeant Schultz from old TV sitcom, 'Hogan's Heroes' - "I hear nothing, I see nothing, I know nothing!"
Rove must be offering lessons to all these people.
Rice Farmer - I agree in general, however in the specific case of this bridge, the Republican Convention is to be held next summer in St. Paul and the hotels are on the other side of the river. This bridge would be a constant reminder of the failure of their policies, so I expect it will miraculously rise from the ashes before then.
ReplyDeleteIn addition I predict they will use it as an excuse to privatize even more public works and give the contracts to those who contribute the most to their election campaigns.
In the long run, you are right, of course. There will be neither money nor energy to repair the thousands of deficient bridges in the US (and no point in doing it).