Cox Crow

Time's Running Out

I'm reading The Geography of Nowhere, by James Howard Kunstler. It's somewhat pertinent at the moment because we're considering trading up from our 3BR, 1BA, 1200 sq. ft. ranch on .55 acre, to something with two bathrooms. One thing Kunstler mentions is that American consumer culture is built on the assumption of cheap oil, but that oil is predicted to run out in, oh, thirty years or so [Hubbert's Peak] — right around the end of the epoch.

Thirty years sounds like a long time, but it's not. I've only been on this Earth thirty-odd years. In thirty more years, my daughters will be gainfully employed, I'll be nearing retirement, my mortgage may be paid off, I may have grandchildren. Where will my home be in thirty years? Will we be surrounded by sprawl? Will we be dependent on fossil fuels to get to work? for our food? Will I be telecommuting to India?

But one thing seems clear, to me at least. Petroleum companies that prefer MTBE to ethanol are rather foolish.

(And speaking of foolish, why would you feed animal proteins to herbivores?)

11:16:05 AM # Google It!