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I have monitored the right-wing-nut talk shows for discussions on oil depletion for years now. They have historically never brought up the topic of peak oil, or shown much concerns at all about reserves. But recently, they have started talking about it out of necessity, only because their largely clueless listeners are getting socked by prices. The interesting thing is that the hosts still think everything is fine, as long as they can keep drilling.
Myron Ebell was on the Lars Larson show yesterday and he said everything was fine, just drill off the coast of California and release all federal lands.
My favorite quote was from Jim Quinn, another rabid winger, who said, paraphrasing "They say we can't make up for lack of oil by drilling more. That's as crazy as saying we can't make up a shortage of food by growing more crops"
And the reason to drill in Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is because "mosquitos can kill a man alive in 15 minutes" up there.
In the upside-down world of the 'minionist, everything is fine in the world today.
Thanks for the opening line.
The few exceptions to the rule includes Glenn Beck, who apparently is a believer in peak oil. I haven't caught one of his rants on the topic myself, but that has been brought up on good authority on discussion threads here.
If you go back and look through archives on right-wing blogs, the typical links to oil discussion involve one of two topics-- the Saddam "Oil For Food" controversy and opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for drilling. I believe those discussions only occur because they are used to bludgeon progressive politicians and attack environmentalists.
Recently the topic of ethanol is becoming a real wedge issue.
Interesting to watch how this will change the dynamics on the discussion. Winger pols have a habit of attacking their opponents strengths and trying to turn them into weaknesses. Ethanol support is something democrats have to be very careful about. The best of the left-wing talk show hosts, however few there are, know oil depletion just as well as Beck and have been going at it much longer. Hartmann, Malloy, know this stuff very well.
i really mean what i said. if you look beyond all this, you'll see that all will be fine. a couple of billions of us might die, but there are far worse things than death. it hurts because we won't ditch our bad habbits
in the end, we're going to have a self sustainable lifestyle, wether we like it or not :)
Quoting REM's song "It's The End Of The World & I Feel Fine"? They said it first.
The Homeless people I see and talk to think everything is going just fine, but they don't want all the newer influx of homeless people messing up their good things.
I have noticed a great big influx of newer homeless people in the soup lines and Breakfast feeding areas.
I Know some of this is because Little Rock Arkansas was the Place to come for Diaster Relief after all the Tornados of the previous few weeks and months, so some of these new faces are not really here to stay. They are just finding the feeding stations as a great place to go while in town.
As one of my friends stated it, " the real homeless are the front runners of the newly homeless." ( Miss Jeesie Goodrum: Local author and Homeless advocate ).
I wonder where we will be in 5 years?
Energy fears looming, new survivalists prepare
Convinced the planet's oil supply is dwindling and the world's economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn't prepare.
The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years.
These energy survivalists are not leading some sort of green revolution meant to save the planet. Many of them believe it is too late for that, seeing signs in soaring fuel and food prices and a faltering U.S. economy, and are largely focused on saving themselves.
Some are doing it quietly, giving few details of their preparations _ afraid that revealing such information as the location of their supplies will endanger themselves and their loved ones. They envision a future in which the nation's cities will be filled with hungry, desperate refugees forced to go looking for food, shelter and water.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/24/energy-fears-looming-new-sur...
I saw that. PeakOil.com is mentioned:
To me the interesting thing is with some of the libertarian bloggers like Michael Rivero and Alex Jones. They've been in the forefront of the 9-11 stuff, for which I give them credit, but totally blind to the evidence in the case of peak oil and global warming and the general ecological crisis. I give credit to Mike Ruppert (no longer active) and Colin Campbell for having linked peak oil and 9-11 (and geopolitics in general), whereas most peakers like to shy away from it. (And, I agree, it certainly shouldn't be a focus here at TOD.)
It's of great interest to me to see the reactions of people (including me!) to the various calamities that have started befalling us in this century. It's a whole study in itself.
The thing about 9/11 is that for most people the topic loses interest logically-you either accept the evidence that factions in the USA government were possibly/probably involved, or you don't. If you accept the evidence, now what? Unlike oil depletion, insights gained into 9/11 cannot really be used to advance your life, so naturally people leave it alone.
Another group besides the Libertarian is the Coast-to-Coast/Art Bell crowd. They seem to be interested in whatever has a conspiratorial bent to it. The problem is that with Peak Oil, there is historically very little by the way of conspiracies associated with it. Perhaps the "oil industry collusion" or guvmint cover-up will grow in stature, and these guys will get all confused and not know which side to believe. It's possible that the C2C crowd will swing from believing in Peak Oil to believing in a Peak Oil conspiracy.
The problem is that with Peak Oil, there is historically very little by the way of conspiracies associated with it.
'conspiracies' in oil/energy I can think of tight off the top of my head.
Teapot Dome scandal
The price fixing conviction in propane in the past few years
Enron
Standard oil
That list is as fast as I can type. With digging, I'm sure more could be found.
I meant with "Peak Oil" not with regular corporate shenanigans.
An example would be that the government is hiding the fact that there are vast quantities of abiotic oil available that is off limits because it would anger the Martians who are secretly siphoning it off.
I meant with "Peak Oil" not with regular corporate shenanigans.
Ahhh, but this is where the two parties talk past each other. Alex and others like him can point to corporate historical 'shenanigans' and raise the question - "Is it happening again?" What they can see is actions that do not match past claims, money being transfered at record rates, and "oilmen" in charge of the nation. Any data that does not support their believe is deemed 'a lie' or what 'a useful idiot' has to say.
An example
An actual example would be nice. Of the ones who get air time, William Deagle has the Linsey insider (common to others) and claims the alien tech that he knows of will save us.
I guess this is the triangle of talk show politics. We have progressive politics, conservative politics, and the marginalized libertarian/conspiracy politics. I hear things about the latter, Alex Jones and such, but don't pay excessive attention to it.
No kidding, from an academic point of view this is fascinating. From an emotional point of view frightening. The first thing I check every morning is the price of oil as if the sequel to a movie, what's going to happen next.
The "9-11 stuff" is a sheer waste of time, it has served superbly to distract attention from real problems. Like UFOs, the PTB are probably quite happy to see people distracted by it. It's a honey pot for the "wingnut" category.
Far from giving credit, the association of PO with the other wingnuts has only harmed the credibility of PO.
Your attempt to link 9/11 to UFOs or Santa Claus is transparent-logically it would be grouped with the assassinations of JFK, RFK and MLK.
Not even Roswell? But yours are probably better examples.
I don't think the government has ever been accused of a cover up regarding Santa Claus ;)
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din. The contemplation alone pales me.
:)
You are not the first person to say this to me. I am by nature a curious fellow, and the mindset on the right forever boggles me.
I'd sure like to sit down at a picnic table in a nice quiet location with you and have a long friendly discussion about a wide range of topics. 'Cause I am a right wing peak oil believer!
I don't think either of us would change our minds about much of anything, but I think we would both learn much of how the other thinks.
I would hope you would not be quite so Boggled when we finished.
Anyone who likes telescopes can't be too bad? (big grin) You ever grind your own mirrors? Or think about it?
No. I have no interest in telescopes. The nickname is something that doesn't mean anything. At best it is an amalgamation of Webster Hubble and Hubble Telescope. Right-wingers generally want to see things in terms of B&W and never see shades of gray. As a shade of gray, that is how I see the right-wing and fundie mind-set.
I watch the wing nuts for fun. I particularly like Kudlow and Fast Money. My wife says, "how can you watch that?", and I respond, "think if it as reading the National Inquirer."
I like how Kudlow proclaims of late; "America is NOT in a recession !"
Do you all know how to find the nude beach? Look for the signs that say, "NO nude sun bathing"
Kudlow....thou protest too much.
Two favorite Kudlow'isms (resulting from his excessive cocaine binging in the 80's)
"We are enjoying a Goldilocks economy"
"The G.W. Bush economy is the least reported and best kept secret in recent years."
Nothing bugs me like overstated generalizations.. yours is a perfect example.
"Right-wingers generally want to see things in terms of B&W and never see shades of gray."
That, even with its disclaimer of 'generally', is another Black and White viewpoint.
People on the right and the left have been dragged out to the extremes, made to feel that there is no common ground, and those on the 'other' side are too alien to communicate with.
Don't believe it. Just keep clear of the blowhards, and try not to be one..