Kunstler's Wrath: Target-Los Angeles

As BET and Desperate Housewives continue to drone away with the rest of the American public, a lot's being going on in the background, AKA the Forboding Planet of Energy Policy and Geopolitical Posturing. If you've been reading a while you should know that James Kunstler is one my favorite Hubbertian witticists, but he's been a little tepid lately. Well June 12th's post on "Clusterf*ck" nation should be a nice jolt, not to mention entertaining reading (if you can find the subject matter one rife with humor). Please, my Neo-Conservative friends, don't mind the name of his blog; it's completely appropriate for this big ol' glopping mess we're about to inherit.

In other news (these bits also having to do with our Neo-Con Rapturerific buddies in office), Dubya's energy bill began debate in the Senate today. Now pay attention...this is great. First off, the White House has criticized Senate amendments as too expensive (a large chunk of money would go to tax-incentives to purchase hybrid cars, as well as require utilities to produce a larger proportion of their 'lectric from wind and solar). GM's troubles are still making the headlines; where are their hybrids, which could take advantage of these incentives? Oh, now I remember...they just might be buying the technology from Toyota. Interestingly, Toyota is huge but has its sites set on 15% global market share. They also dominate the hybrid auto sector, with a Camry and luxury Lexus versions set to come down the pipe. No word yet on an Escalade diesel-electric hybrid (though it's imminently feasible)....

Know Thy Neighbors

Sorry for the delay in updates...a lot's been going on (for everybody, right?). Found an interesting article on one of my favorite blogs The Oil Drum. In "Making the Community Better," a very thoughtful Ianqui brings a community-centered approach to the concepts that gloom-and-doomers peak oilers are rambling on about these days.

In case you don't know, peak oil is the theory that the world is on its last legs of cheap and abundant oil supplies; from here on out, we're probably already on a precipitous slope of decline, even as consumption increases. That means bad news for food supplies, world economies, SUV drivers (including me), everyone and everything really. Since all we do is touched by oil (and natural gas, which is closely related to oil), the ride looks like it'll be bumpy. Check the Energy Bulletin's primer on the topic. While you're at it, read some of Matthew Simmon's speeches on "the coming energy tsunami." In case you're curious, this guy's a GOP insider and energy investment banker that helped Dick and Dubya pen their energy bill. If he's worried, maybe we all should be. An interesting documentary explaining how we got ourselves into this mess entitled "The End of Suburbia" has been getting screentime across North America, and for good reason.

I'll hop out on a limb here and say this subject is the most important issue affecting humanity since we discovered how to use fire. Sadly, most world governments are hushed on the issue, probably for fear of shocking an already volatile global economy. Don't forget though that most wars in human history have been over the control of resources. Hmmm.