2 Comments

1. Josiah:

   One thing that struck me while reading your post was the tremendous number of skills that become necessary and valuable when people are a) rationing a fixed amount of resources, and b) self-provisioning to whatever extent possible. It is much easier to believe in the Energy Fairy when the extreme division of labor has totally separated sites of consumption from sites of production, leading to people who don’t know where their basic daily staples come from, how they work, and what they are made of. You’re ahead of most people (including me) in that you seem to have a good working knowledge of engineering and design. But I think demand reduction will come involuntarily, through the disruption of access to resources.

   STAN RESPONDS: Very astute observation. This relates to exactly what we are saying over at IA. The acquisition of these skills, before they become necessary, will pre-position new, practical (and hopefully many women) leaders, whose soon-to-be essential knowledges will lead people to pay attention to what they are saying politically as well. Food politics is inescapably revolutionary. The days of ideological vanguards are fading further and further into the past. But someone is always on the front lines first. That much hasn’t changed, and won’t.

   8 July 2007, 10:01 pm

2. peggy:

   Summary: Alaskan politicians have used every oil-price rise since 1973 to push for drilling beneath the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. But even putting environmental questions aside, refuge oil is unnecessary, insecure, economically risky, and a distraction from the real energy debate. Market solutions that enhance efficiency can provide secure, safe, and clean energy services at much lower cost.

   Full article at http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20010701faessay4995/amory-b-lovins-l-hunter-lovins/fool-s-gold-in-alaska.html

   2 July 2008, 2:28 am

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