89 comments on Peak Oil and Mass Communication
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The forces supporting Business as Usual (BAU) are much better financed and organized than the people wishing to educate about Peak Oil and other Limits to Growth issues. Add to this that their message is much more palatable. The Republican/Conservative media machine puts its full weight behind the industry propaganda as well.
Examples (I have seen these 'Energy Tomorrow.org' ads all over TV):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rj6jYchguoM
Wow! 160 million households and 60 million vehicles for 60 years! Drill, Baby, Drill!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KDfxPZSWTjI&feature=related
I really like the shafts of sunlight and the colorful fishies in this ad...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4XHcKwfFE0&feature=related
Do you own an oil company? Better stop making trouble or they will lose the rest of your IRA/401(k):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UCBml2AN7E&feature=related
Wow, we can get oil from there, and there, and even over there! Isn't that easy and clean? Now forget those PO and LTG folks and go back to shopping!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91rwTd1yocY&feature=related
Has anyone seen the movie 'Thank You For Smoking'?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0427944/
It can give you an idea of what we are up against...the forces promoting endless consumption, wars, pollution, and unnecessary baby-making have plenty of Nick Naylors in Congress, on the AM commercial band, on TV, and on the Intertubes.
More bad news: There was the time one of my comrades related to me that oil is made continually in the ground (abiotically), and that "we have enough oil to last for millions of years." He said that oil was a gift from God, and that his words were true since the World was 6000 years old per the Bible and that those silly theories about oil being cooked vegetable matter for millions of years were obviously hogwash.
Oh, and he clearly states that AGW is hog-wash from the godless, communist, anti-American eco-liberals.
This person commanded a $50+ million weapons system, and is responsible for handling some of the most powerful weapons on Earth...and had 4 kids and counting, home-schooled. He is by no means an anomaly in the U.S. armed forces.
We have an uphill battle indeed.
Which brings us back to what Nate - and Isaac Asimov - wrote about a little while back: there is no hope of paradigm change short of massive die-off of the "old and in the way". Nor is there any guarantee the new paradigm will be better.
Gaia dances with Shiva.
cfm in Gray, ME
But also, 'rust never sleeps'.
Some of these untenable fantasies (as above) might have more termite holes in their framework than anyone could guess. Is it possible that surplus energy is all that's really holding them together?
Just try to stand clear in case they do start to fall. (ELP)
Bob
(if it was the Missile defense system that the guy was in charge of.. just pretend you're a missile, and you're probably safe.)
I'm of two minds there. Is it a good thing that the missiles in the silos are made of cardboard and the defense contractors ran off with the money or is it a bad thing?
Love It. May I keep It?