Once you've visited some of the web sites cited on this page, you may get the idea that there's not much hope for us. The truth is, if we keep on going the way we've been going, there isn't much.
However, the future doesn't have to be all bad. Whether or not the government or the corporations do anything to give us a better future, we are still in control of our futures. The page of Web Sites about Transition is there to show you that we can create a happy future for ourselves, cheap oil or not. By reading this site, you have become part of the solution.
Congratulations and welcome!
The Fallacy of Climate Activism
This is a very hard article to read, but an absolute
necessity for people who have the courage to look at
what's really coming at us.
It says things that nobody wants to hear, but that ring
obviously true to anyone with his/her eyes open.
More importantly, it's the job of everyone working in
the Transition movement to tell the article's truths to
the world.
Sample:
"Living sustainably means, in Derrick Jensen's elegantly
simple definition, that whatever we do, we can do it
indefinitely. We cannot use up anything more or faster
than nature provides, we don't poison the air, water, or
soil, and we respect the web of life of which we are an
intricate part. We are not separate from nature, or above
it, or in any way qualified to supervise it. The evidence
is ample and overwhelming; all we have to do is be brave
enough to look."
Richard Heinberg's "Museletter"
Richard Heinberg is one of the earilest and most important
thinkers in the area of the future of humanity post-oil.
His Museletter is a monthly e-newsletter "covering such
topics as:
* Geopolitics
* Energy
* Oil depletion
* Civilization and its unintended consequences
* Economics from a contrarian perspective
* Suggestions for how to weather the coming energy transition"
Energy Bulletin
"Energy Bulletin is a news aggregator, whose co-editors collect
current articles in the mainstream press, peak oil &
sustainability blogs and sites, and other news media which,
as we say elsewhere, '...provide insight into the implications
of peak oil across broad areas including geopolitics, climate
change, ecology, population, finance, urban design, health,
and even religious and gender issues.' We also publish original
articles that are written especially for Energy Bulletin."
A great place to go, in other words, for a quick view of
everything that's being published or posted in these areas.
The Oil Drum
A clear, open presentation of the facts about our dependence on
cheap oil and the end of its availability.
Post Peak Living
The theme of this site is how to prepare for life after "peak oil".
It has introductory materials, such as a
Preparing for a Post Peak Life
video and a
Peak Oil Primer,
as well as several pages of solid suggestions as to how
to thrive after the end of the age of oil.
Guide to Post Peak Living;
in addition to a list of 7 things to do now,
it also has a set of pages on how to prepare for the coming
times in each of 10 areas, such as water and health.
Life After the Oil Crash
Although this site is (deliberately) provocatively titled,
it contains a wealth of information about the aspects of
our dependence on cheap oil.
To quote from the site,
"The issue is not one of 'running out' so much as it is not
having enough to keep our economy running. ...
an oil based economy such as ours doesn't need to deplete
its entire reserve of oil before it begins to collapse.
A shortfall between demand and supply as little as 10 to
15 percent is enough to wholly shatter an oil-dependent
economy and reduce its citizenry to poverty."
Heads in the Sand
This is a report by Global Witness, an international agency
dedicated to bringing hidden truths to light, about the
current tendancy to ignore the coming end of the age of oil.
You can tell from the title what they think of that tendancy.
From the linked page, you can download two versions of the
report, a high-resolution (larger) and a low-resolution
(smaller) version.
The report has these sections:
* Why the oil supply matters
* The rise and fall of Homo petroliensis
* Time for governments to reconsider
* The IEA's (International Energy Agency's) history of
overconfidence leaves a legacy of missed opportunity
Definancialisation, Deglobalisation, Relocalisation
The title's quite a mouthful; but this presentation by Dmitri
Orlov at the New Emergency Conference in Dublin on June 11, 2009,
makes some very important points.
It's organized as a slide presentation, with the author's
explanations below each slide.
To quote the author's summary,
"we all have to prepare for life without much money, where
imported goods are scarce, and where people have to provide
for their own needs, and those of their immediate neighbours."
The Ring of Elephants
The "ring of elephants" is a metaphor for the growing list
of challenges that face us - it's as if we're surrounded by
a ring of elephants, all charging straight for us.
Future Scenarios
The Future Scenarios site was created by David Holmgren,
co-originator of the permaculture concept.
The subtitle of the site is "Mapping the cultural implications
of peak oil and climate change."
Holmgren's introduction to the site says that it
"presents an integrated approach to understanding the
potential interaction between Climate Change and Peak Oil
using a scenario planning model. In the process I introduce
permaculture as a design system specifically evolved over
the last 30 years to creatively respond to futures that
involve progressively less and less available energy."
It's a complex site, but one well worth reading.
CollapseNet
Michael Ruppert, long-time investigative journalist and
star (if that's the right word) of the movie "Collapse," has
created a web site for people seriously interested in
preparing for a possible collapse of this country's systems.
One of the features of the site is a "Lighthouse Directory,"
a directory of organizations with skill, knowledge, or
resources for the task of what Ruppert calls "building lifeboats."
It costs $10/month to subscribe to the site, but the money
goes to a good cause, and it gives you access to information
from Ruppert and other sources that non-members can't see.