Minneapolis Infrastructure: Planning for The "Perfect Energy Storm"
I want to suggest that we need to plan for our city's infrastructure future based on the best available information about energy and economics. Leaving aside the issues of environment and environment and economics, it seems clear to me that we need to plan for the next 20 or 30 years to be as car-independent as possible. Take a moment to glance through some of the sites I've linked to and see what you think. Can Minneapolis afford to invest in auto-centric infrastructure given the facts about our energy situation? For example, Matthew Simmons, part of Cheney's secret energy task force, manages $56 billion of investments in the energy sector. His perspective is worth looking at..See especially "Uncharted Seas: 2004 Energy Markets" -- available from Simmons & Co, Int'l here: (first speech listed) http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/research.aspx?Type=msspeeches Another speech, given to the ASPO at the French Petroleum Institute is at: http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/061203_simmons.html Simmons disdains "magical" technological fixes that many tout - from hydrogen to shale to renewables. The net energy loss we face will radically alter transportation. Another good resource is the M. King Hubbert Center for Petroleum Supply Studies at: http://hubbert.mines.edu/ Richard Heinberg does the best job of mapping where we are, and where we're headed. http://www.museletter.com/index.html Again, I submit that our current transportation infrastructure is violent and ultimately self-destructive. We need to focus our planning efforts to develop a local living economy. Transportation projects such as the Lake Street widening and the I35W Expansion are both rooted in absurdly outdated models of energy, environment, and economics. They are designed as if the energy outlook of the 1920's is the energy outlook of today. We must demand that our leadership wake up, educate themselves and the public, and plan for the outlook of the next 30 years. -- Gary Hoover -- Kingfield REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
