Phil Randal wrote: > The G8's "economic growth" sacred-cow also dominates the UK > government's energy white paper (http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/ > whitepaper/page39534.html) and Nuclear Power consultation document > (http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/whitepaper/consultations/ > nuclearpower2007/page39554.html). > > On page 5 of the Nuclear Power "consultation" document they state: > > "7. Our aim should be to continue to raise living standards and the > quality of life by growing our economy, while at the same time cutting > waste and using every unit of energy as efficiently as possible. But > based on existing strategies to reduce energy demand, the IEA predict > global energy consumption is likely to grow by about 50% by 2030. > Therefore we will also need to transform the > way we produce the energy we need for light, heat and mobility." > > Constraining demand is obviously completely and utterly unthinkable. > > Phil
Capitalism must grow or it will die. The thrust of the G8 Statement just reaffirms that point. Growth is good. Greed is good. The economy must grow just to keep up with population increase, which (in the U.S.) is more than 1% a year. Every year, there's a new "crop" of youngsters that graduate from school and want jobs/cars/houses/families, etc. Looking back, we (the U.S.) decided to consume or way out of the Great Depression and we've not been able to face the other side of the equation, which is, resources are devoured and the environment get smashed in the process. I saw the movie "The End of Suburbia" a few weeks ago. That movie puts our situation in stark terms. When Peak Oil arrives (if it hasn't already), the American Lifestyle is going to go into a serious nosedive. Reading the latest energy bill in the U.S. Congress, there's the notion that we can just switch to "alternative" energy supplies, such as coal-to-liquids and nuclear, along with ethanol and plug in hybrids. The politicians aren't willing to admit that there's a need for a major change in the way we all live and work. No politician wants to fall on their sword and raise taxes to reduce the deficit, let alone tell the truth about the massive problem of Peak Oil. At least, we now have "lip service" from the Big Guys that climate is changing. Matt Simmons has been trying to make folks aware of the Peak Oil problem. Whatever his motives (he's in the energy finance business), he does make a good case, as seen in his book "Twilight in the Desert". Here are 2 of Simmons' recent presentations: http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/Offshore%20Technology%20Conference%20April%2030,%202007.pdf http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/files/Investment%20Advisers%20Association%20April%2026.pdf Then, there's Daniel Yergin, who wrote "The Prize" about the history of the oil industry. Here's a comment about the CERA's oil production projections: http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2007/06/post_mortem_on.html For some economists, the future looks very bleak, even without concern for Peak Oil: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/business/yourmoney/10every.html E.S. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups Global Change ("globalchange") newsgroup. Global Change is a public, moderated venue for discussion of science, technology, economics and policy dimensions of global environmental change. Posts will be admitted to the list if and only if any moderator finds the submission to be constructive and/or interesting, on topic, and not gratuitously rude. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/globalchange -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
