Driving the road to hell
Feeling fiesty, or something, maybe related to "hopeful" signs of oil prices jumping up near $75/bbl again. Slow motion crises are hard to hold momentum against, and easy to WANT to seduce ourselves into thinking thing can turn out well just because we wish it to be.
Mostly I'm continuing on the thought that there's no longer any middle ground left to stand on. Everything's at the poles. If we expect oil to continue to support us, we head one way (road to hell), and the only way to get off that road is to set explicit goals and mileposts in a DIFFERENT direction. Maybe we can't do much more than change lanes for now. Maybe all we can do is move into the slower lane. There's not even any shoulder to pull over upon.
It is surely wrong-headed to say that oil, the most useful substance we've ever stumbled upon, is the enemy, but like any success based on limited resources and exponential increases in uses for it, the end must come, and always sooner than we can expect. I mean sooner in the sense of we can worry "early" but the "signs" for failure won't be with us clearly until its too late to act sensibly when we're sure.
Somehow I'm SURE we need to set "consumption" goals, and project those goals ever downwards into the future. Just SEEING what we're doing is at least half the problem. Setting the goals is harder since we don't know what we're up against, but holding or consumption from increasing seems at least the smallest sensible goal. A second sensible goal might be to hold our imports constant, which means a net decrease as our domestic production declines.
Maybe it's all hopeless to imagine we can AGREE to cut back, and republicans will always fight against limits, and democrats will fight against loss of jobs or wages which will come sooner if we create limits.
Mostly I'm sure something must rise from grassroots effort, something that gives hope, that gives local solutions to local problems that will come as energy gets more expensive.
An interesting program coming up this week
http://citizensleague.org/events/past/2007/07/policy_and_a_pi_6.php Policy and a Pint: The Price of Gas
It seems to be one of those great mysteries of American life -- why does a gallon of gas cost the price it does? Sometimes we think we have a rough idea why: that it's tied to some nexus of Middle East politics and turmoil, oil company greed, and supply-and-demand. But is there more to it than that? And who is really pocketing the most from the profits? We'll ask all those questions, and even hear about how some consumers believe it should cost even more than it does. Featuring:David Strom, president of the Minnesota Free Market Institute, Akshay Rao, the General Mills Professor of Marketing and Director of the Institute for Research in Marketing at the Carlson School of Management Moderated by Steve Seel, 89.3 The Current DJ
Maybe I shouldn't have any hope, seeing David Strom there, whom I imagine will just say "No problem - let the market sort it out, higher prices CREATE new supply." I wonder if "peak oil" will be seriously discussed at all?
Mostly I'm continuing on the thought that there's no longer any middle ground left to stand on. Everything's at the poles. If we expect oil to continue to support us, we head one way (road to hell), and the only way to get off that road is to set explicit goals and mileposts in a DIFFERENT direction. Maybe we can't do much more than change lanes for now. Maybe all we can do is move into the slower lane. There's not even any shoulder to pull over upon.
It is surely wrong-headed to say that oil, the most useful substance we've ever stumbled upon, is the enemy, but like any success based on limited resources and exponential increases in uses for it, the end must come, and always sooner than we can expect. I mean sooner in the sense of we can worry "early" but the "signs" for failure won't be with us clearly until its too late to act sensibly when we're sure.
Somehow I'm SURE we need to set "consumption" goals, and project those goals ever downwards into the future. Just SEEING what we're doing is at least half the problem. Setting the goals is harder since we don't know what we're up against, but holding or consumption from increasing seems at least the smallest sensible goal. A second sensible goal might be to hold our imports constant, which means a net decrease as our domestic production declines.
Maybe it's all hopeless to imagine we can AGREE to cut back, and republicans will always fight against limits, and democrats will fight against loss of jobs or wages which will come sooner if we create limits.
Mostly I'm sure something must rise from grassroots effort, something that gives hope, that gives local solutions to local problems that will come as energy gets more expensive.
An interesting program coming up this week
http://citizensleague.org/events/past/2007/07/policy_and_a_pi_6.php Policy and a Pint: The Price of Gas
It seems to be one of those great mysteries of American life -- why does a gallon of gas cost the price it does? Sometimes we think we have a rough idea why: that it's tied to some nexus of Middle East politics and turmoil, oil company greed, and supply-and-demand. But is there more to it than that? And who is really pocketing the most from the profits? We'll ask all those questions, and even hear about how some consumers believe it should cost even more than it does. Featuring:David Strom, president of the Minnesota Free Market Institute, Akshay Rao, the General Mills Professor of Marketing and Director of the Institute for Research in Marketing at the Carlson School of Management Moderated by Steve Seel, 89.3 The Current DJ
Maybe I shouldn't have any hope, seeing David Strom there, whom I imagine will just say "No problem - let the market sort it out, higher prices CREATE new supply." I wonder if "peak oil" will be seriously discussed at all?
posted by Ares Olympus at 11:59 AM
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