Several years ago, when I noticed our farm supply prices increasing, I learned that most of our farm inputs are related to oil. I started researching the subject, and that led me to theoildrum.com, and to aspo-usa.com.
After following the subject of Peak Oil for many months, I realized that Gail Tverberg was the writer easiest for me to understand on the subject. Gail is an insurance actuary, so I knew she evaluates long-term risk in her profession.
From her recent post:
It is not a coincidence that just as we are hitting Peak Oil, world monetary systems seem to be edging toward collapse. Monetary systems are debt based, and depend on growth to continue. Resources are finite, and we are reaching limitations on them. Many of us have predicted that monetary systems may collapse, either as we approach peak oil, or shortly after peak oil. I have talked about the connection between peak oil and monetary system collapse in a number of posts. In this post, I reprint relevant sections from one of my earliest TOD posts, written in April 2007.
Gail foresaw the financial meltdown. I invited her to be the featured speaker at the Energy Forum recently sponsored by the Kohala Center and the Hawai‘i Island Chamber of Commerce.
Her writings, along with this series of short videos that make up a “crash course” about Peak Oil and related subjects, provides a strong foundation for planning for our changing future. These are topics we really need to take seriously and I strongly recommend these videos.
I’m speaking to some Hawai‘i Community College students about this subject on Friday, based on this short Peak Oil video.
The world has changed and we must prepare ourselves in a smart way. We have lots of natural resources at our disposal while, at the same time, we are isolated living here in the middle of the ocean. So there are dangers and opportunities.
But we cannot afford to throw away opportunities that come our way. That is why I am “pro” TMT, GMO, geothermal energy and education. These offer us important tools for living a sustainable life here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.