Return of the Caveman

What do we think of when I say "caveman times". An ancient times of hunting and gathering? Living among animals and trees in the forest? Transportation by foot and no power source but the sun and fire made by sticks? It is possible we can go back in time.

Beyond the car culture

I was reading the article "Beyond the car culture" in the Downbound Traveler by Peter Armstrong and they talked about a politician and a teacher in Ontario that wants walkable communities linked by transit. He says that "Cars are more trouble than they're worth. Also, when we're hitting peak oil, we need to reorganize the urban areas of the world into walkable communities like they were in the 18th-century and before that."

What a keen idea! I think it's a really great idea because it is sustainable and environmentally friendly thing to do. After all, who really reaps the benefits from all this? It is US, the people living on this planet. We clean our homes don't we? It makes sense to do the same with our planet. We really need to start thinking about other alternatives besides driving or using vehicle fuel by gasoline. Pollution is gross and no one needs to smell the early and afternoon peak hour traffic fumes or at anytime or worse case yet Cancer.  

What are we going to do when the oil is gone?

After all peak oil season is over. "The issue is not one of "running out" so much as it is not having enough to keep our economy running." The increased of worldly population plus increased in demand will sent oil prices shooting sky high. As a result, the nation's most oil dependent economies "will crumble, and resource wars will explode." Fearful times are coming and this generation will live to see and be involved it.

Something to think about.

Vice President Dick Cheney (CEO of Halliburton) stated in year 1999:

*By some estimates, there will be an average of two-percent
annual growth in global oil demand over the years ahead,
along with, conservatively, a three-percent natural decline
in production from existing reserves.That means by 2010 we
will need on the order of an additional 50 million barrels a
day.  

*Some geologists expect  2005  to be the last year of the cheap-oil bonanza, while many estimates coming out of the oil industry indicate "a seemingly unbridgeable supply-demand gap opening up after 2007," which will lead to major fuel shortages and increasingly severe blackouts beginning around 2008-2012. As we slide down the down slope slope of the global oil production curve, we may find ourselves slipping into what some scientists are calling the "post-industrial stone age."

 "Big deal. If gas prices get high, I’ll just  drive less. Why should I give a damn?"
I thought of that too and how in a way, it is better for the environment but it isn't so simple. There are already many strings attached to our ways of consumption and lifestyles.

Did you know that..? (geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer says in his book "Eating Fossil Fuels,") - more evidences of high energy usage and hence high environmental contamination.

*approximately 10 calories of fossil fuels are required to produce every 1 calorie of food eaten in the US.

every step of modern food production is fossil fuel and petrochemical powered:

1.  Pesticides are made from oil;

2.  Commercial fertilizers are made from ammonia, which is
    made from natural gas, which will peak about 10 years
    after oil peaks;

3.  With the exception of a few experimental prototypes, all
    farming implements such as tractors and trailers are
    constructed and powered using oil;

4.  Food storage systems such as refrigerators are
    manufactured in oil-powered plants, distributed across
    oil-powered transportation networks and  usually run on
    electricity, which most often comes from natural gas or
    coal;

5.   In the US, the average piece of food is transported
     almost 1,500 miles before it gets to your plate. In
     Canada, the average piece of food is transported 5,000
     miles from where it is produced to where it is consumed.

So what's that got to do with me? It is not only going to effect You but all of US. Some dark times are heading our way. I understand that this is a dark subject but to change the world, we have to understand reality, work with it, learn from it and surf it. As a citizen of this planet, making positive change zaadzsters, we have a responsibility to assist others and ourselves in our journey of changing the world.

"What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself."
Abraham Maslow

"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance." Alan Watts

"We are the ocean, each of us are the drops of water that makes the ocean possible. We can not change the whole ocean all at once but we can start somewhere and we can do something." Yuri

What can we do?

1. Use less energy! Walk, Bike and Ride Transit.

The lower to the ground you are, the more energy you save. For eg. walking is better than biking, biking is better than driving, driving is better than plane and so on. If you have to drive, go for fuel efficient car like the hybrid.

2. Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce.

3. Eat local foods...try going to the farmers market for things instead of grocery chains.

4. Buy Organic..eat Less Meat. It takes a great amount of energy to sustain and sanitize factory farming. Consider Vegetarian / Vegan / Raw foods.

5. Consume LESS in general.

6. Use your Voting Power.

7. Educate, Learn and Grow.

"The auto culture is over when the fossil fuel orgy is over so we might as well start redesigning our urban and rural environments now for the post-petroleum era. We must explain to people that this is not a choice; we can't choose to keep cars."

"In 100 years, there will be no cars, period. Whether they're run on bio diesel, ethanol, or chicken excrement, there will be no cars so we better get used to that eventuality and start planning for it now."

Got some more ideas? Leave a comment please :)

References:

Downbound.com

Peak Oil : Life after the oil crash