The Oil Drum

When they feel it in their wallets, they will get religion. Hallelujah brothers!

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070304/japan_markets.html?.v=2
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070305/wall_street_week_ahead.html?.v=2

The barbarians are already at the gates. They're building them.

Good thing no-one is clueless.

Otherwise, who knows what might happen?

"Noone is blindfolded or clueless, most just can't change it so why worry?

Bullshit. Flyboy is exactly right. Don't be fooled by the very small audience here at TOD that is aware and awake. The vast majority of the Herd of Saps are without a clue and are blindfolded foolZ.

Very few people know anything at all about Peak Oil and Gas. Virtually no one understands energy - it is something we've taken for granted all of our lives the past couple of generations.

Our assinine leaders still think they are in control and that "the market" will save us. "The Market" is Mother Nature and she is going to eat us alive. One by one.

Even the very small fraction of our First World that is awake worries about childishly naive things like "food or ethanol for our car-cars and trucks"... just wait a few years until half the northern hemisphere cannot heat their homes and then we will see if they are still worried about their fucking cars.

Idiots.

If America lived differently, many of it problems would no longer exist, but it seems as if for many Americans, living differently would be un-American.

Don't forget, our wonderful leaders, including Darth, say that "The American way of life is not negotiable." And most Americans WANT to believe that. The do not want to believe that life could be radically different and/or more physically uncomfortable.

Most Americans spend their free time being entertained, rather than doing something creative. Under that scenario, it's hard to envision the bulk of the public accepting a different reality. That's why I'm somewhat pessimistic about the future. I think things MAY have to get pretty bad before they get better.

Expat--

Just about every masterplanned community in the United States prohibits clotheslines (solar dryers) as well as solar water heaters and PV panels. Other solar appurtenances to the house, like awnings, are also on the forbidden list. All in the name of protecting property values.

Has there ever been a society that is more disconnected from nature than ours?

Below is an excerpt from a column I wrote in December.

The rewards of a well-used solar dryer are by no means limited to the energy and dollar savings reported on the monthly utility bill. The best part of the package is the time spent outside. There you can take the pulse of the day from the sunlight, clouds, air temperature, wind and humidity that make up this continuous flux of energy that we call the weather. Relying on solar energy in this way makes a person more attuned to the ebb and flow of weather conditions. Yes, forsaking the fossil-fueled dryer for the great outdoors does take more time and effort, but it’s a small price to pay for eliminating the drudgery that comes with doing the laundry on autopilot.

Amazingly enough, community prohibition of clotheslines is not uncommon in the United States. Ironically, this inane belief that the sight of gym trunks and sweat socks hanging in a yard will drive property values lower is strongest in the Sun Belt, a region where solar drying—and water heating--should be the norm and not the exception. What can you say about a mindset that thinks nothing of wasting a precious fossil fuel on doing the laundry just to keep up appearances? Given how prevalent this silly and self-destructive behavior is in our land, is the imminent arrival of the oil peak and terminally declining natural gas stocks necessarily a bad thing?

As far as I can tell, in my neck of the woods, Americans use Sundays for more shopping (after Saturday, I mean). After church, and the obligatory midday repast (a large amount of grain-fed protein, usually) it's off to the stores to "shop til you drop." Riding my bike through traffic (huge pickup trucks and SUVs) and then actually driving in it this weekend was a real Matrix-style eye-opener for me, having just read Stuart's post on SA...

Although I am on the gird, I have a large PV system. I also know a number of people in the area who are totally off the gird (I live in the boondocks.). The reality is that you live within the confines of your power. In other words, you select what you want to do and then modify your power usage as necessary.

For example, I can choose to run my 2hp well pump or the water heater but I can't run both at the same time. What I do is to be sure the pressue tank for household water is pumped up; then I'll turn on the water heater. Or, I can run our small AC but not the stove. I've had the system for years so I'm very attuned to what I can cannot run at the same time.

The people in my area who are off the grid rely upon propane for many of the appliances with big draws such as stoves and water heaters. As far as I know, they all have some kind of generator as a back-up for cloudy days to recharge their batteries or for loads beyond their system's capability.

It's a diffferent way to live but not that big a deal.

Todd