Peak Oil Animation

Isn’t Youtube great?

I found this little animation on Youtube, and thought that it was a nice, simple way of getting some facts about Peak Oil across. If anybody has found anything better, let me know, and I’ll publish a link to it.

Deano

Transition Training

This weekend I am away in Lincoln doing the official Transition Training. I became involved with Transition Lincoln by accident. I went along to a meeting of the Lincoln Urban PIGS (Pemaculture Interest Group), as I’m involved with Permaculture, and they were in the process of morphing into Transition Lincoln. I decided to get involved, even though I live 26 miles from Lincoln. In reality, I should be involved with Transition Horncastle, but they don’t exist yet. There are four of us from the Horncastle area scheduled to do the training, but only one of the four lives in the town itself. Perhaps we’re a few months away from forming a group, but it is something to aim for. Local solutions for local people. Perhaps my own village will, take up the challenge? Maybe not. The Burghers were outraged when we tried to get some affordable housing built. ” We don’t want poor people in the village” was the mood of the minority, and was actually said to me. The selfish way that we lead our lives has to change.

I intend to lend my support to Age of Stupid, by watching it again on Saturday. Hopefully, enough people will attend to convince the cinemas to show it more widely. Even though the film doesn’t offer any positive message, or solutions, I still think that we will turn things around. I don’t believe that it’s too late to change, and that it is imperative that we do so.

I will reply to any comments next week.

Have a productive weekend.

Deano

Age of Stupid premiere

I went to the Premiere of Age of Stupid yesterday, and was impressed with the film. I thought that the premise of looking back in time from the future was a good way of approaching the subject, and that the use of the stories of real people, affected by climate change, and by Peak Oil was very moving, and effective.

After the film, they announced a coalition against climate change, involving lots of different organisations, that they claimed represented nearly 6 million people, or 10% of the UK population. The message that they were trying to get across was that we must put pressure on the government to push for a really strong treaty to come out of Copenhagen, in December, to replace the Kyoto agreement, and that they were organising a mass rally in December.

The website implores people to watch the film on its opening weekend, which is coming, as the number of ‘bums on seats’ over the opening weekend, will determine how widely shown the film will be. There is a list of cinemas sheduled to show the film, so if you’re concerned about climate change, or peak oil, you need to get yourself, and as many friends as you can muster, to a screening this weekend.

Please support the film, and encourage as many people as possible to go and watch it.

Deano

Age Of Stupid Premieres on Sunday

The Documentary film “Age of Stupid” premieres on Sunday, in London. The film deals with the issue of climate change, and the premiere is to be shown at Odeon cinemas around the country, by Satellite Link.

I will be watching the film in Lincoln, on Sunday, along with other members of Transition Lincoln> I will write a critique on Monday.

If you want to find out more about the film, you can go to the following website:

http://www.ageofstupid.net/

Deano

Peak Oil Hits The Mainstream

It’s nice to see that the impending scarcity of oil is finally getting some mainstream attention, with a program on BBC2 during peak time, quotes from a government minister, Oxfam, and the think tank Chatham House.

BBC2 showed the program ” A Farm for the Future”, as part of its Natural World series. 8pm on Friday is about as good as it gets for prime time viewing. The program looked at ways of making farming sustainable, in the face of the reduced availability of fossil fuel. Peak Oil is mentioned, along with Permaculture. If you didn’t see the program it is available on BBC iplayer until 5th April. At the following URL

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00hs8zp/Natural_World_20082009_A_Farm_for_the_Future/

Other references to shortages of oil and food are quoted in “Country Smallholding” magazine.

The first is from Environment Minister, Hilary Benn. In a speech announcing more funding for Bee Research he says “We’re trying to find more ways of producing food, for more people, using less energy, less fertiliser, and less pesticide [all of which are derived from fossil fuel ed.], while producing less greenhouse gases-and we’ve got to do all of that with limited land and limited water. ” He then goes on to say “I believe that we have the knowledge and the technology to do this, but the perfect storm of climate change, environmental degradation, and water and OIL SCARCITY threatens our ability to succeed.” [my emphasis].

Now this is the first time that I’ve read a government minister stating that oil is going to become scarce. I have yet to hear any politician tell us how they’re going to solve it, have you?

More references to Peak Oil appear in a news article about food shortages, with both a Chatham House report, and Oxfam, both pointing to shortages of oil as a contributing factor to food shortages, and starvation.

With Peak Oil hitting the Mainstream, where are the solutions coming from, if they’re not coming from the top?