DisInformation on the End of the World as We Know It

Riggsveda has a nice post on James Wolcott's admonition of Trouble Coming. But, I have a real disagreement with parts of Kunstler's description of the Long Emergency.

Agreed, we've peaked our world-wide fossil fuel supply. Unlike some estimates that say it's happening now, others say that may well have happened in 2003. Prices can only rise.

Fossil fuel is a finite resource- but fossil oil is originally produced by biological processes. Methane is continually being produced by living organisms, for example on the ocean floor. Biotechnology has long specialized in tailoring exotic organisms to produce unlikely products: for example, virtually every bit of "human" insulin sold to diabetics is produced in bacteria. And there are biological process that produce hydrogen using water and photosynthesis that biotechnology could develop.

There are alternative energy sources out there that could be developed on a scale to run a vibrant industrial manufacturing-based economy.

There is no reason to stop the advance of earth-friendly technology, nor to think that the development of alternative fuels is impractical, nor eventually return most the world to a pre-industrial state, but the oil companies sure want you to think it's inevitable.

Agreed, most the alternative fuel sources the Energy Companies like Halliburton talk about are infeasible.

They aren't trying- because they want to ride the wave down and stay on top.

Any development of a cheap alternative fuel source puts the Carlyle Group in the can.