Hi Robert,
Continue to lead by example. Others will follow. Hopefully water will not become a problem for you in the future, neither too little or too much. I'm looking into the cost of a cistern. I cannot be certain which way Uruguay's climate will change. It could go to a wetter grassland (good) or a drier one (liveable but not so good). When you cannot trust money you trust land (hence the term "real" estate).
Tom Irwin
From: robert luis rabello [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: Biofuel@sustainablelists.org
Sent: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 13:14:18 -0300
Subject: Re: [Biofuel] [Fwd: Economist make sense (except for Krugman)]
Tom Irwin wrote:
> Hi Robert and all,
>
> At what price will demand for oil fall, say in China or the U.S. ? Is
> there an economist out there currently making millions in the futures
> market that knows that answer? Does $60-$70 per barrel of oil contain
> the environmental cost of obtaining and utilizing that oil? It is mid
> winter here and my early spring jazmine bush is already full blooming
> and my raspberries are starting to bud. Basically my backyard garden is
> telling me something that is obviously beyond the mere current cost of a
> barrel of oil.
>
> Tom Irwin
My sister suffers from a common delusion in North America: "Nothing
is wrong. Everything will go on the way it always has. Don't concern
yourself with issues raised by the lunatic fringe of the environmental
movement."
I remember what hyperinflation was like in Brasil, where the money
spent on a refrigerator one month would barely serve to buy a six pack
of beer for it the next. I can imagine wealth painstakingly built
over a lifetime disappearing like a morning mist. It's quite possible
that economic problems will force a fundamental change in societal
structure which some (mostly rich people like my eldest sister) will
weather without grave difficulty.
While markets may adjust, there WILL be a human cost, particularly if
energy prices rise rapidly. We should have had an energy policy
decades ago, and I believe we will pay for our procrastination. It
doesn't do a family who is mortgaged up to the hilt and paying better
than $500 per month on their V 8 powered machine any good to consider
a hybrid, if their SUV is worth less than what they owe. The
efficiency improvements "mandated" by increasing scarcity require
capital investment that simply will not be available to most people
whose financial situations conform to the consumerist paradigm.
The fundamental problem of remaining oil reserves requiring more and
more energy to extract is totally LOST on most people. This will
create a scramble for easily recoverable resources likely involving
yet another round of bombs, bullets and death. My country is on a
collision course with China, and thus far, because our leaders are
listening to nonsensical market prognosticators who visualize an
endless rise in GDP, they've done NOTHING serious to reduce our
energy-related gluttony.
Someone in this forum wrote that the U.S. will never use its nuclear
weapons. I don't see how we could take on China without them, yet if
we do so, we will drag the rest of the world down with us. It's a
path we needn't follow, and that's why the dialogue in this forum is
so critical.
As for the weather, we've endured several weeks of temperatures
approaching 40 degrees. My grass is brown and dotted with Keith's
beloved "deep rooting herbs". Trees are already losing their leaves.
However, our vegetable garden is bursting with produce. We've NEVER
had such an abundant harvest, and for the first time EVER, I'm growing
maize that's taller than I am! (We have a sunflower that is well over
3 meters in height, too!) There has been no snow left on the local
mountains (except for Mount Baker, which rises some 3 400 meters above
sea level) for months now. This year's salmon run is pathetic!
Yet most people remain unconcerned. They're reading and believing
articles like "Economist make sense".
Meanwhile, I'm making compost, walking instead of driving, and
harvesting food from my own property.
robert luis rabello
"The Edge of Justice"
Adventure for Your Mind
http://www.newadventure.ca
Ranger Supercharger Project Page
http://www.members.shaw.ca/rabello/
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