Michael Janzen

Below is a powerful video describing the horrific events and impacts being felt and see in the gulf. It also points to people like Sarah Palin think the solutions to our looming energy problems will come from more drilling. There is only one solution that will work long term, a culture-wide downsizing to sustainable levels.

I also listened to Kunstler’s podcast on the Deep Water Horizon catastrophe and wasn’t surprised to hear him suggesting that this event may be a wake up call for many Americans. A wake up call that we better kick this fossil fuel addiction quick. He tends to be a bit extreme but in this case I must agree.

There was another interesting post on the Oil Drum on a speech Obama needed to give. I don’t think the folks living in the gulf would disagree that now is the time to give a speech like this, but I suspect most Americans are not ready for a wake up call like this, although, it’s long overdue.

The trouble for most of us is the transition from our hedonistic lifestyle to a sustainable one is incredibly difficult. First we don’t usually think of ourselves as hedonists, living in the moment for pure pleasure. Maybe this disaster in the gulf will wake more people up to the idea that we must start living for the future, and make some strategic sacrifices today so life can continue thrive.

And finally, connected to the hedonist comment above, is an interesting lecture and video from RSA Animate explaining how our perception of time effects our values and more. I tend to always be future thinking, but can see how many of my day-to-day decisions are still driven by a desire to be comfortable in the present at the potential cost of the future. I need to work on that harder.

I spent the better part of last week traveling to Los Angeles on business. Julia and Katie came with me so we decided to drive and turn it into a mini vacation. As we drove down I-5 and then onto the 405 in Los Angeles I could not help but think about what that place would be like after we run out of gas. I really try not to dwell in negative stuff like this but I think it’s important to understand the issue and then turn to positive actions.

I found this great documentary on YouTube produced by ABC Science. Most of the Peak Oil stuff you’ll find online is heavily biased with survivalism and end of the world fear mongering. The net effect of this fear-based communication strategy is that the general public turns a blind eye to the issue. This is a problem if Peak Oil is upon us because too many people will be caught off guard.

I’m not going to blab on about my personal take on Peak Oil. Instead I’m going to encourage you to watch this documentary. Below are all the segments.