Americans' Faith in Afghan War Fades “The confusing nature of the war in Afghanistan — and the failure to locate Osama bin Laden — has contributed to American's already disillusioned vision of the war, Kipper said.”

 

  Pat Murphy is a founder of Community Solutions Peak Oil organization in Yellow Springs Ohio.
Below is an excerpt from his new book: Plan C.

We are facing multiple grave world crises — peak oil, climate

change, inequity and species extinction to name just a few. When I

began this book our situation was very serious — now it is life threatening.

The survival of industrial society as we know it today is in doubt. Twenty years

of so-called sustainability conversations have led nowhere, and green has degenerated

into a marketing term. The time for scientific and technological

solutions to problems caused by science and engineering is long past. Survival

requires that we begin to see that energy technology is the root cause of many

serious world problems. As William Jevons pointed out decades ago, ever more

efficient machines designed by scientists and engineers means ever-increasing

consumption of fossil fuels and more generation of CO2.

Our problem is cultural, not technical. It is a character issue, not a scientific

one. We have never bothered to ask or answer the question “What is energy

for?” We have allowed cheap fossil fuels to change us from citizens into mere

consumers. We in the modern world have become addicted to consuming

energy. In the past, our spiritual traditions warned us against materialism —

an older name for our current addictive consumerism. But contemporary religions

seem to concede that humanity’s main purpose is to consume the

products of a fossil fuel-based, perpetual-growth economy. As Wendell Berry

says:

The churches generally sit and watch and even approve while

our society hurries brainlessly on with the industrialization of

child-raising, education, medicine, all the pleasures and all the

XV

Preface

practical arts. And perhaps this is because religion itself is

increasingly industrialized: concerned with quantity, “growth,”

fashionable thought and an inane sort of expert piety. From

where I’m looking, it seems necessary for Christians to recognize

that the industrial economy is not just a part of a

quasi-rational system of specializations, granting the needs of

the body to the corporations and the needs of the spirit to the

churches, but is in fact an opposing religion, assigning to technological

progress and “the market” the same omnipotence,

omniscience, unquestionability, even the same beneficence,

that the Christian teachings assign to God.1

Plan C offers an alternative perspective to the ever more frantic technical

proposals for continuing our soul destroying and life endangering way of living.

This book opens with a few chapters intended to “make a searching and

fearless moral inventory of ourselves,” a starting point for many 12 step programs.

In Part I, I take that moral inventory, describing the morally central core

issues of fossil fuel depletion, human-caused climate change and global

inequity. I relate peak oil to our economy — a word which, together with free

market, defines us principally as self-centered consumers rather than as caring

citizens. The growth economy has been based on the principle “greed is good,”

and the results are disastrous. I review the history of imperialism, especially in

the West, and the greed and violence it displays towards the planet’s human

and non-human inhabitants. I show that US imperialism has its own history

of greed, aggression and cruelty, extending within as well as beyond the

national borders. The automobile — possibly the most destructive machine

ever built, both of the physical world and of human communities — is

addressed along with the electricity generating power plant, the fixed counterpoint

to the automobile. The automobile and power plant are the key

technologies that produce the CO2 that is so dangerously altering the planet’s

climate. Finally I summarize the two institutions, the corporation and the

media, that deliberately foster the delusion that the pursuit of personal satisfaction

will advance the social good, which keeps us in a trance that all will be

well.

http://www.communitysolution.org/pdfs/plancpref.pdf

Current Mood: contemplative

Population boom will pressure forests. “Booming demand for food, fuel and wood as the world's population surges from six to nine billion will put unprecedented and unsustainable demand on the world's remaining forests...”

Study: future snowmelt in West twice as early as expected; threatens ecosystems and water reserves. “According to a new study, global warming could lead to larger changes in snowmelt in the western United States than was previously thought, possibly increasing wildfire risk and creating new water management challenges for agriculture, ecosystems and urban populations.”

Battle of the beaches: Italy’s vanishing coastline. “…San Cataldo's beach, like that of dozens of others around the Italian coast, is blowing in the wind. It is shrinking season by season. And its future as a viable holiday destination is shrinking with it.”

Contaminated sites face ‘catastrophic’ nuclear leak. “More than 210 million litres of radioactive and chemical waste are stored in 177 underground tanks at Hanford in Washington State. Most are over 50 years old. Already 67 of the tanks have failed, leaking almost 4 million litres of waste into the ground. There are now 'serious questions about the tanks' long-term viability,' says a Government Accountability Office report..."

Record oil prices fail to halt the North Sea's decline. “Record oil prices mean a massive windfall for the taxman—forecast at around £15 billion, roughly double the tax take last year—but have conspicuously failed to halt the slide in production, which fell from 2.9m barrels per day in 2006 to 2.8m in 2007.”

Pricey gas: fewer cops, more potholes. “Local governments grappling with soaring fuel prices scale back services citizens have come to expect.“

Ivory Coast’s main city crippled by transport strike. “Ivory Coast's economic heart Abidjan was crippled by a transport strike over fuel price hikes for a third day Wednesday as motorists queued up at petrol pumps following rumours of an oil shortage.”

Ethiopia hit by diesel shortage. “Major towns throughout Ethiopia have been hit by a major shortage of diesel fuel, starting Thursday, July 10, 2008 this week, gas stations were congested with vehicles queuing to fill up their tanks.”

Xcel set to cut power to 47,000. “Xcel Energy estimates that it will shut off 47,000 Colorado customers for delinquent bills during the second and third quarters of this year, a staggering 140 percent increase over the same period in 2005, according to regulatory filings.”

Continental smothered by fuel prices. “Continental Airlines says it swung to a second-quarter loss, hurt by record high fuel prices and weakening economic conditions.”

US Air pilots feel pressured to cut fuel. “The pilots union for US Airways said Wednesday the airline is pressuring pilots to use less fuel than they feel is safe, in order to save money.”

Ryanair withdraws 30% of planes from Stansted. “Ryanair, the cut-price Irish airline, today announced it will withdraw nearly a third of its aircraft from London's Stansted airport and suspend operations at seven other European airports because of higher fuel costs and airport fees.”

Soaring fuel sinks 2000 Quantas jobs. “Qantas will slash about 2000 jobs next week as the national carrier seeks to offset cost pressures caused by the crippling fuel crisis. The belt tightening also will include cutting loss-making flight routes from both domestic and international schedules.”

UK: farming industry reeling as key input costs double. “The leading environmental consultancy has warned that farmers margins are being squeezed by escalating fuel, feed and fertiliser prices, along with increases in other input costs brought about by rising oil prices.”

Pakistan: fertilizer shortage to affect crops. “President Pakistan Kissan Movement, Ch Ashfaq has strongly criticized the non-availability of fertilizer in the market by saying that the shortage would badly affect the yields of different agricultural crops.”

Disappearing crabs change life in Chesapeake Bay. “It's an anxious summer for watermen harvesting the Chesapeake's best-loved seafood, the blue crab. The way some see it, the crabbing business here isn't just dying. It's already dead."

New pressures force US farmers south of the border. “Tougher immigration control and stricter environmental and food safety regulations are prompting US firms to move farms to Mexico, Brazil, and everywhere in between.”

Grave robbers pilfer metal for quick cash. “Grave robbers, a curse of burial grounds for centuries, are back for new valuables: metal ornaments that can be melted down for quick cash as copper and other metal prices climb.”

New street crime: thieves lift manhole covers. “Cities and counties are battling manhole-cover thefts, a crime spree that police tie to the weak economy. Hundreds of 200-pound covers have disappeared in three months in California, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Georgia as scrap metal prices pop up."

They’re stealing your trash. “With prices for aluminum, cardboard and newsprint going up and an economic slowdown putting added pressure on people's pocketbooks, curbside refuse has become a hot commodity.”

Catalytic converters' precious metals tempt thieves. "Catalytic converters, which can be plucked from vehicles' undercarriages, are in high demand on the scrap-metal-recycling market because they contain the precious metals platinum, palladium and rhodium. The amounts are tiny, but current prices of $2,000 an ounce for platinum and $9,000 for rhodium tempt thieves."

Account Structure Update
Back by popular demand, Basic Accounts will be available to all users again by the end of the (northern hemisphere) summer. More information on the decision-making process and proposals relating to the future of Basic Accounts are in lj_2008.

New Themes
Two attractive and all-new Flexible Squares themes, "Circular" and "Circular Brown" are now available.


L to R: Circular and Brown

New V-Gifts
Give someone you care about the gift of enticement. With the new Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Curry and Sushi v-gifts, all the significant people in your life will be able to share in the longing for the tasty edibles below. Plus, it reminds loved ones you think they're really sweet, really savory or just plain satisfying.


L to R: Chocolate Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Tea, Coffee, Curry and Sushi

Ж-Men...but not the ones you might expect!
This week LJ Russia launched Ж-Men, a new comedy series about superheroes, inspired by the LJ communities dedicated to superheros, comics and cartoons. The title's "Ж" comes from ЖЖ, the nickname for LiveJournal in Russia.

Ж-Men's script is written by a group of LJ enthusiasts who also happen to be television professionals. Who knew? Following the premiere, five more episodes will be broadcast over the next two weeks. We hope you find the series fresh and enjoyable.

This is, of course, an experiment for LiveJournal. As always, we'd love to hear what you think!

Current Mood: awake

US faces global funding crisis, warns Merrill Lynch. “Merrill Lynch has warned that the United States could face a foreign 'financing crisis' within months as the full consequences of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage debacle spread through the world.”

Bernanke gloomy on housing, economy. “The housing finance crisis and spiraling energy costs will remain a drag on the U.S. economy for the rest of the year, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told lawmakers in a gloomy presentation about the economic outlook.”

Inflation: price jump worst since ’91. “Record gas and higher food prices drove inflation to the biggest annual jump since 1991 and fanned fears about growing pressures on consumers.”

Bankruptcies loom for airlines: report. “Thousands of layoffs, hundreds of grounded planes and 21 price increases may not have been enough to save the embattled airline industry from the damaging effects of high fuel prices. ...record fuel costs and weak cash flow may lead to 'multiple bankruptcies and liquidation' for major U.S. airlines in 2009.”

More homeowners taking in boarders.

Builder confidence reaches record low. “Home builder confidence fell for the third consecutive month, hitting a record low in July, a trade group reported Wednesday.”

GM to cut jobs, suspend dividend. “General Motors Corp. said Tuesday it will suspend its dividend, sell off $4 billion to $7 billion worth of assets and cut 20% worth of salaried cash costs in an overall plan to save billions of dollars. 'We need to take some very tough actions to ensure our survival and success,' said Chief Executive Rick Wagoner, in a press conference, referring to the current market conditions as an 'unprecedentedly difficult time.'"

Shell-shocked GM retirees react: ‘This is a knife stab in the back’. “After years of getting generous coverage, retirees from salaried jobs at General Motors Corp. reacted angrily Tuesday to the announcement that GM was ending their health benefits.”