In a startling and some say brilliant dash of technological ingenuity, major airlines are discussing converting aircraft - which they can no longer afford to fly thanks to peak oil and unfair safety checks - into railway trains. Trains, they note after careful analysis, don't have to worry about taking off and landing, and crucially, can have a buffet car in the middle which passengers walk to on their own legs, which results in labour saving efficiency gains, and helps passengers stay fitter by exercising. Richard Branson applauds the move, and has offered to buy and convert some of the planes that failed carriers like Oasis, Aloha, ATA, Skybus, Champion, Southwest, American and Alitalia won't be needing any more.

British train operators plan to run the sleek and fashionable 'airtrains' on fermented apple juice and cow manure, acknowledging that industrial biofuels have been ill conceived and caused untold environmental harm. American companies are considering following the British example but are having trouble finding enough Chinese steel to make new railroads to replace the ones they ripped up after the Second World War in order to save the public the bother of having a choice of transport options.

And now back to Planet Earth. Anyone who has caught more than two minutes of news in the last ten days one might think that it is obvious that airlines are not having a very good time - half a dozen carriers have ceased existence in that time, and more than a thousand planes have been grounded amid safety fears. It is possible that the increasing number of safety scandals are a result of falling staffing levels, as well as desperation to avoid any extra costs - such as maintenance. But astonishingly enough, some Canadian analysts sound as if they are about to embark on a new dot com boom:

"Despite the demise of Oasis Hong Kong Airlines Ltd. this week, the air transportation industry is flying into rosier skies, the Conference Board of Canada states in a report released Thursday".

It gushes on to say

"After several years of strong demand growth, record load factors, and a largely modern fleet of aircraft, it should be boom times for the Canadian airline industry," the report said.

All those who wonder what level of carbon dioxide or what price of oil it will take to shake off the euphoria that grips mainstream thinking will have to go on waiting to find out it would seem. We have had $100 oil and we are told that we already over 30 parts per million past a safe-ish level of carbon dioxide.

We apparently do not respond to these relatively slowly changing factors. We took notice of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, at least for a while. And they are still are in Louisiana. Will we wait for the next round of Katrinas or is there some other way we can begin systemic change?

In an area of California just north of San Francisco, where Post Carbon Institute is based, some residents rejected a modest proposal in 2006 to build a short railway to divert some of the traffic on Highway 101. The old railroad that used to run up much of the near coast in picturesque Marin, Sonoma and Mendocino counties lies rusting and useless even as the freeway just yards away is immobilised by traffic and fumes.

In every country we need to be deciding to spend our oil and money in ways that will build a society that can run reasonably well without oil, but there are not enough signs that is happening yet. One thing appears increasingly obvious - at least some citizens, some non-governmental groups, some politicians, and some important sectors of the economy will need to work together to begin to achieve systemic change. That's quite hard to imagine at times, but it is easier to imagine than calling for all sectors to collaborate. And at least that offers us the possibility of finding those that do want to begin the process of rethinking, rebuilding and relocalizing the supply chains that bring so much of what we need or at least think we need.