Obama Discovers A New Form Of Energy
Posted by Sonja Ebron
Barack Obama will be the first post-peak oil president of the most oil-hungry country on the planet. The Financial Times, London’s best daily, just previewed an International Energy Agency report that estimates global oil production is now falling 9 percent per year. To be clear, excess oil is the ‘capital’ in capitalism, and it no longer exists. We will see capitalist economies (are there any others?) shrink by at least the rate of oil decline, so we are in for a societal transformation much different than the turn of an economic cycle. Economic activity based on carbon (is there any other?) needs to shrink even faster than oil decline. A recent World Wildlife Fund report suggests our globe is warming five times faster than predicted, and the pace is accelerating. Change is necessary to address the twin crises of peak oil and climate change.
Blacks Must Lead On Climate Change
Posted by Sonja Ebron
Black people in the U.S. have a lot to lose from the twin crises of energy decline and climate change. These are global catastrophes that will soon cause massive changes in our lives. We can expect everything from utilities to common household goods to become much more expensive, and new regulations will make everyday activities more difficult. Increases in epidemics and natural disasters will make health insurance and mobility far more important. Our tough economic circumstances and lower access to information will make it harder to adapt to these changes.
Must See: The Story of Stuff
Posted by Sonja Ebron
I’ve always felt that power and natural gas utilities provide more than kilowatts and therms. They provide light, heat, hot water and data transmission (electronics). Likewise, energy is larger than utilities and gasoline. It’s the basis of our whole consumption society, driving everything from fast food to home construction. If you really want to understand how your use of everyday “stuff” affects the energy and environmental chain, take a peek at The Story of Stuff with Annie Leonard. It’s 20 minutes long, the most entertaining and informative discussion of these issues I’ve seen, and well worth the time!
Amandla!
Posted by Sonja Ebron
Welcome to blackEnergy’s blog. We at blackEnergy hope to start and maintain a discussion on energy in Black communities. The issues are large and complex, as they are for the U.S. as a whole on the topic of energy. But as we say, when America catches a cold, Black folks catch pneumonia. So we’d better get a head start.
On the real deal, I think our energy security is threatened by the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, a combination of climate change and peak oil, and I think the “authorities” learned nothing of use to us from our experience with Katrina. We need to get informed and organized in a hurry. At least now we have time to prepare.
