Post Carbon Institute

Skip to content

PROGRAMS:     Global Public Media     Local Energy Farms     Oil Depletion Protocol     Relocalization Network     Post Carbon Cities    


It's Happening

Submitted by Richard Heinberg on April 25, 2008 - 8:02am.

There is a surreal quality to the experience of seeing the unfolding of unpleasant events that one has predicted. Plenty of times over the past few years I’ve said, "I want to be proven wrong!" Who in their right mind would wish to see economic collapse and famine? But it was obvious that, given the direction our society is headed, these must be the consequences. Now, with oil at $117 a barrel, the US economy teetering, and food riots erupting in Haiti, Egypt, and Asia, one could perhaps gain some satisfaction in saying "I told you so." But what faint compensation that would be. We are all going to have to share the bitter fruits of our society's century-long growth binge, whether we have criticized it or participated wholeheartedly. The only silver lining is the possibility that now, at last, as the trends (Peak Oil, the failure of growth-based economics, the failure of industrial agriculture, climate chaos, and so on) are becoming so starkly clear, policy makers will begin seriously to contemplate a Plan B (or C, as Pat Murphy insists). For those of us who have been lobbying in that latter direction for some while, this is no time to let up, but rather the ideal moment to redouble our efforts.

Heard you speak in Keene, NH this week (found your talk brilliant and motivating), bought your book, and can't put it down. Read "Fifty Million Farmers" at lunch, and wondered why my peanut butter-and-veggie bacon sandwich didn't taste more directly of petroleum. Thanks for striking just the right middle ground between doom and hope. I'm going to check out the community supported agriculture options in my area and see if I can rustle up the money for a farm share.

Submitted by tmendham on May 1, 2008 - 10:44am.

© 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Post Carbon Institute

Post Carbon Institute is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization incorporated in the United States.