A fantastic, and scary-to-depressing, article on how our food system is repeating the history of doomed civilizations. In an age of super-sized meals and obesity epidemics, food-shortage doomsday scenarios always seem a little surreal. Backed by half a century of agricultural abundance, it’s easy to imagine that cheap food will [...]
Aug 292010
A graphical accounting of the limits to what one planet can provide
Aug 202010
Scientists are now also changing their official testimony on the state of the oil spill. From the Guardian: White House claims that the worst of the BP oil spill was over were undermined yesterday when a senior government scientist said three-quarters of the oil was still in the Gulf environment [...]
Guest article by Mad Hedge Fund Trader Why Water Will Soon Become More Valuable Than Oil. If you think that the upcoming energy shortage is going to be bad, it will pale in comparison to the next water crisis, so investment in fresh water infrastructure is going to be a [...]
It’s the little stuff in the oceans on which life on planet earth is based. Without plankton, global fish and sea mammal populations are threatened. Consequently, so are the land animals that are directly or indirectly connected to ocean food supply. That includes us. Summary of available materials (since actual [...]
Jul 272010
Break down the oil slick, keep it off the shores: that’s grounds for pumping toxic dispersant into the Gulf, say clean-up overseers. Susan Shaw shows evidence it’s sparing some beaches only at devastating cost to the health of the deep sea. Related Posts: Matt Simmons – We’ve Killed the Gulf [...]
Matthew Simmons, founder of the Ocean Energy Institute, talks with Bloomberg’s Mark Crumpton, Lizzie O’Leary and Julie Hyman about BP Plc’s oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
Climate change will have far-reaching consequences for the world. It’s not just about turning up the air conditioner… Resource scarcity due to climate changes in the past have lead to wars. The following paper examines this issue: Abstract: Recent studies have linked climatic and social instabilities in ancient China; the [...]
Jul 192010
1 Portfolio Outlook and Recommendations – Page 1 2 Finance Goes Rogue (But Volcker Wins a Round!) – Page 3 3 The Fearful, Speculative Market – Page 4 4 Everything You Need to Know About Global Warming in 5 Minutes – Page 7 5 “Seven Lean Years” Revisited – Page [...]
Great to see companies working to figure out ways to ween people off oil. The biggest issue with electric cars (now that many of the drivability hurdles have been jumped) is the ability to recharge batteries. Also, watch Immelt backpedal on comments he made about China and the Administration. Jack [...]
One of the world’s most respected institutions has warned of “catastrophic consequences” for businesses that fail to prepare for a world of increasing oil scarcity and a lower carbon economy. Businesses which prepare for and take advantage of the new energy reality will prosper – failure to do so could [...]
Jun 282010
Jeff Rubin, former chief economist at CIBC World Markets, was recently interviewed by ASPO: “…depletion does not have to be apocalyptic. It will only be apocalyptic if we continue to consume oil as we have in the past when it was cheap and abundant. Because I’m an economist and I [...]
Jun 242010
Off the cuff interview with a Gulf sea captain in charge of rescuing turtles affected by the oil spill.
