133 comments on Did Katrina Hide the Real Peak in World Oil Production? and Other Oil Supply Insights
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So it's the third world that has been duped? Somehow I thought it was the first world that has been duped into believing that everything can continue just as it is. I haven't seen any big move away from SUV's, cheap airfares, weekend vacations in the sun, driving to 7-11 for a slurpee, fresh flowers from Africa, my entitlement to a 4,000 sq ft home, cars for the kids, ATVs, living in Phoenix or Las Vegas, etc etc (all parts of our non-negotiable lifestyle that need buckets of energy). So whether there are Katrina effects or not we have some nasty big problems ahead of us. And you think it was a tough sell just trying to get PO on the agenda. Now try to explain that maybe we have also had Peak Lifestyle.
The point is everyone is guilty of drinking the kool-aid.
Certainly if the third world had not tried to follow in the footsteps of the first world and rejected aspiring to the American dream you outlined and instead invested in sustainable high tech they would not be getting the shaft now.
Simply because they waste less does not mean they made the right decisions and I'm sure given the chance they would be just as bad as any American look at the consumption of China's growing middle class. We are all pigs just some are skinner pigs.
I'm sure the peak oil message is not going over any better in the third world than the first and ELP is a hard sell to those who should adapt the most.
Put it this way the third world countries tend to have reasonable natural resources they could have easily leveraged those to buy/build learn technology/medicine to create a ELP culture.
They did not.
No disagreement from me, the cities like those you mentioned as well as Orlando, are unsustainable in an energy scarce future, Take away cheap AC and water from them and they will be very harsh places to live especially if you live in a house designed after the advent of AC. Even if the power goes of for a few hours in one of these homes on a day in the summer it takes a couple of days for the house to cool off again at full AC.
Peak Lifestyle is what the RTE documentary is all about but of course much of what is said can apply to the new cities of America.
Its indefatigable ignorance as a cultural choice. Until the peak lifestyle becomes apparent to enough people that the opinion makers catch on to attract and point the masses attention. Which is ALWAYS too late . . . http://newenergyandfuel.com/ . . . So you're right, peak lifestyle was and is shrinking for many right now. With more to come of course.