tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119906447472922361.post5898345169281382904..comments2023-12-21T22:03:18.964-08:00Comments on Sound and fury, signifying nothing: Suburbia: terminally-illDade Cariagahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13431049944346345893noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119906447472922361.post-88329712158572115862011-06-07T08:28:51.261-07:002011-06-07T08:28:51.261-07:00And the lastest solution to peak oil is start a ne...And the lastest solution to peak oil is start a new tax. Yippee. That will solve it. To make matters worse, the brokerage firms have been dreaming up new derivitive swaps to make money on these carbon taxes. <br><br>A tax is no solution. Neither is trading carbon tax swaps on the stock exchange.<br><br>All Congress can come up with is a profiteering venture and they call it a solution. Boneheads.Eclectic Dilettantehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08646596049594294800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119906447472922361.post-74511675955088937442009-06-22T10:15:00.119-07:002009-06-22T10:15:00.119-07:00We have known for a very long time that fossil fue...We have known for a very long time that fossil fuels are a finite resource. We have known for a very long time that alternatives will have to be produced. The only question brought up here is when the effects will be felt, and if and when alternate sources can be produced. It seems extremely likely that those in this film are the most pessimistic, and the estimates of oil companies (running out in 2070 or so) are the most optimistic. So, at some time in the next couple of decades alternate fuel needs to be produced. There are already multiple alternatives, but they are not commercially viable because oil is so cheap. As oil becomes more expensive, investment in alternate fuels will increase, increasing production and reducing prices. Global warming fears have dramatically sped up this process.<br /><br />What will happen is that suburbia will adapt. As prices increase people will get more fuel efficient cars, live closer to work, move into cities, walk and bike more. Suburbia will look more like villages or towns (which people prefer to live in anyway). Fuel sources will diversify and become more local. People will invest in insulation, solar panels and so on.<br /><br />But my main reason for optimism is that the scientific problem is not dauntingly difficult. We need to replicate what plants do efficiently (turn sunlight energy into fuel) at an industrial level. The group that does this will become the richest company in the world, so the motivation is enormous. The fears of this group are absolutely justified if humanity stops being able to innovate. The fears are Malthusian in nature.<br /><br />I personally believe that oil and gas prices will increase, demand will increase and the result will be precisely the impetus that results in new technology in terms of energy. In thirty years I think we will have more cheap energy than now.Dan Binmorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09631203781543243534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119906447472922361.post-19502459873949646512009-06-21T14:45:16.007-07:002009-06-21T14:45:16.007-07:00And the lastest solution to peak oil is start a ne...And the lastest solution to peak oil is start a new tax. Yippee. That will solve it. To make matters worse, the brokerage firms have been dreaming up new derivitive swaps to make money on these carbon taxes. <br /><br />A tax is no solution. Neither is trading carbon tax swaps on the stock exchange.<br /><br />All Congress can come up with is a profiteering venture and they call it a solution. Boneheads.Eclectic Dilettantehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08646596049594294800noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119906447472922361.post-36588817797156808552009-06-18T13:50:17.255-07:002009-06-18T13:50:17.255-07:00Your faith in humanity reminds me to smile, Dade. ...Your faith in humanity reminds me to smile, Dade. It is a good thing. I remember one time when I bad-mouthed humans at large, and you motioned to your neighborhood and asked me, "Do you think all of these people are bad?" (One world, one people!) I had to adjust my outlook, at least a little.<br /><br />I saw the movie about 3 years ago, I think. Here in Portland, a group got together for a while (perhaps they still meet) to "Powerdown". A really great discussion of what could be coming, although NOT for the faint of heart, is lifeaftertheoilcrash.netMari Goldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10245944863761903118noreply@blogger.com