The goings on of our family.
EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil ‘To Do’ List: Why We Should Do These Things Anyway
This is another interesting article looking at positive approaches to the issues of peak oil. We’re doing what we can within the limits space/money place on us at this time.
That’s the headline on this article. The author’s point is that ChevronTexaco recently made a huge deal to buy out another company – a deal that only makes sense if we’re at peak oil or will be soon.
And reading between the lines, that means only one thing.
Peak oil.
We’re basically there.
Ubuntu is the Linux distribution that I use. It’s a free, open source, very capable OS. And the new version is out! I’ve been using the development version for awhile now but it’s still nice to see the official release.
Today we ordered a grain mill and wheat berries so that we can start grinding our own flour. Even if we can’t produce all of our food ourselves we can start adapting to a life that uses less pre-package, prepared foods in favor of fresh produce, etc.
I just finished reading The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies by Richard Heinberg. It is an excellent introduction to the problem facing us all – the end of cheap oil and energy. Our current lifestyle isn’t sustainable. As oil peaks and the prices go up we’ll all need to adapt to a new future.
The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you’re inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save. But until we do, these people are still a part of that system and that makes them our enemy. You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inert, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it. – Morpheus, The Matrix
Cheap oil is our ‘Matrix’. It has allowed us to create this civilization. As Morpheus says in the movie people are not ready to be unplugged. They don’t want to hear about it. Whether or not someone believes oil is peaking now, in five years, or in twenty years the fact of the matter is that cheap oil is finite. Discovery peaked back in the 1960s and has declined since. We’re discovering far less oil than we’re burning. The same with natural gas. Like it or not we need to face this problem.
Heinberg’s book is one of the best places to start. There are also links in the peak oil section.
Our porch garden is coming along well. One of the Thai tomatoes is up. Also, the lettuce, arugula, spinach, sunflowers, and an assortment of basil and oregano. The plants are all under covers most of the time since it is still cool.
The row covers let through most of the sunlight and help keep the plants warmer. It’s like a mini-greenhouse.
Lately it’s been cloudy and raining so there hasn’t been as much sun but it is out at the moment. I took advantage of the nice weather to check on the plants. I replanted a few of the plants that hadn’t come up yet. The Stiletz tomato, the ground cherry, swiss chard, a few of the sunflowers, spinach, and some more basil and oregano. The neat groupings in the herb box are hopelessly gone now between the squirrel digging it and McCoy running through it the seeds got moved around. There are actually quite a few up – but scattered about. It’ll be more interesting that way I guess.
