[nobodypanic]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('the48thronin', 'R')ead that last sentence again please...... LOL

[deeznutz]

Keep up the good work KTH and YesPlease, someone has to stand up to the doomer sheeple around here.

[KillTheHumans]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('deeznutz', 'K')eep up the good work KTH and YesPlease, someone has to stand up to the doomer sheeple around here.

[Ferretlover]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('the48thronin', 'T')he chamber says expanding capacity on the more than 150-year-old rail system would cost $148 billion over 30 years. Private companies would have to pay most of it, with federal and state tax dollars covering much of the rest.

[Waterthrush]

Appreciation of rain. I have a few fruit and nut trees planted out in a field that needed some watering today. But we've had lovely afternoon thunderstorms with brief downpours yesterday and today, and I've been standing out on my deck feeling quite satisfied because it was raining.

[ReducedToZero]

"2) The suburbs and all their ugly McMansions become a thing of the past. Glory be and Hallelujah! It won't take long for the earth to swallow up those plastic monstrosities. The PVC siding can be recycled and the rest of the house will collapse into a pile of substandard building materials and genetically engineered fast-growth warped pine 2x4s and "engineered lumber" which is chip board (OSB) and 2x3s. Ick. Scavengars will pick up the pieces and burn them for firewood. I can't think of a better ending for McMansions, which are actually designed for a LIFE SPAN of 50 years anyway. They were a passing fancy, never intended to endure. "


Sounds like sometimes James Howard Kunstler gets off to... hahha

[Waterthrush]

Continuing this thread on the here and now of the good aspects of Peak Oil -

Time Magazine is thinking the same way with its Ten Things You Can Like about $4 Gas currently on its website.

There ARE some positives. I am not so impressed or in love with society as it is at the end of the oil age. I am looking forward to more - more walking, better health, more stars in the night sky - and less - fewer strip malls, less pollution, less pressure on resources.

Meantime, though, I'm thinking of riddling my neighbor's AC unit with bullets.

[ROCKMAN]

mos,

I'm guessing the point is that higher liquid fuel prices are forcing us to modify all our spending habits to compensate. Although I don't think it can quantified in advance one of our biggest advantages in dealing with PO may be how much of our disposable incomes are spent on non-essentials. Granted, there will still be pain (12,000 Starbuck employees just lost their jobs this morning). Hopefully there's enough fat in our system to allow a more gentle easing into a post PO world.

[Waterthrush]

Another update on good things CURRENTLY resulting from Peak Oil (not in the theoretical pie-in-the-sky future, but now): gasoline prices are causing a reduction in unnecessary travel and in speed, and that reduction is causing a fall in traffic fatalities: link
Maybe auto insurance rates will fall.

Edit: See the Emersonbiggins thread below for a more detailed discussion.

[charliebrownout]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'I') see some big positives.
1) America becoming more like Europe and developing a real mass-transit system, and not just a dozen empty buses making the obligatory loop around the city.
2) The suburbs and all their ugly McMansions become a thing of the past. Glory be and Hallelujah! It won't take long for the earth to swallow up those plastic monstrosities. The PVC siding can be recycled and the rest of the house will collapse into a pile of substandard building materials and genetically engineered fast-growth warped pine 2x4s and "engineered lumber" which is chip board (OSB) and 2x3s. Ick. Scavengars will pick up the pieces and burn them for firewood. I can't think of a better ending for McMansions, which are actually designed for a LIFE SPAN of 50 years anyway. They were a passing fancy, never intended to endure.
3) Mom and Pop businesses return to the city.

4) Old houses become popular again, as people start to appreciate their ability to remain naturally cool in the hot summers.
5) People start talking to their neighbors. Community returns.
6) Stress levels drop five billion points as people stop commuting for two hours each day and simply "ride the rails" to their jobs.
7) We return to the kind of living we were intended to have, instead of this high-pace, high-stress, frenetic, frantic, mile-a-minute all the time nuttyness and busy-ness.
Eight) God willing, all televisions will be collected and destroyed, and no one will have to hear about American Idol ever again.
Nine) And the very best, perhaps Americans will again become the rugged individualists we were all intended to be.
Just call me hope-full.

[ki11ercane]

I don't see why anyone would need to wait what seems to be a Crystal Ball timeframe to see all these things come to fruition or to change these things in their own lives. With the reality that the "harsh effects" of Peak Oil may not hit until up to 40 years from now, why wait? And, why hope they will happen in the first place.

1. If Mass Transit is a requirement for someone "preparing," there seems to be plenty of trains and buses around right now. (although I am not sure how preparing for economic hardship is tied into getting a bus or train) If it is not where a person needs it to be for them, moving nearer to them might be an option.

2. Sounds like you don't live in one right now, so you're ok. If and when this really happens, good pickins for everyone.

3. Mom and pop business already exist in smaller towns, away from cities, and also within cities. People "choose" to shop at ChinaMart, Hate Depot, and all the Mega grocery stores. If you want to shop in smaller stores, you're more than welcome to do so for your housewares, building supplies, and food "today." People steer clear from them because they want to save money.

4. Again where people choose to live is their option. Much of the existing homes in towns and cities are "old" already. Simply steer clear of houses built within your definition of "new" and you're ok.

5. Again, you can do this "right now." Get off your duff, go outside, and go for a walk and train yourself to talk to one neighbor in your neighborhood a day/week/month. This issue of not being friendly to your neighbors is our own doing. Again, a choice.

6. If people don't want to commute 2 hours a day, they can either move closer to work, or re-define their career direction. Again, personal choice. People change their careers up to 8 times in a lifetime. Not one of those can't be within 20 minutes from home?

7. Doing this again is a "choice." If people want all the trinkets, toys, and big house, stress is enevitible to get them. People can choose to "personally powerdown" and reduce stress if they want to. No one wants to sacrifice the "good life" for a "stressless life." If you want to retire in half the time, you're going to work twice as hard, unless you want to earn income outside of social and legal boundaries.

8. Just turn the TV off or put it in the closest. Again, PERSONAL CHOICE. No one makes anyone watch the TV.

9. The more you know, the better off you are. Learning should be a lifetime endeavour. Some of the things people learn and think this will make them better off are a lot to be desired. (like how to configure their web browser, set up their celphone, or setting up OnStar in their car) A lot of the skills people learn is about the same as eating junk food for the brain.

The one "good thing" (aside from all the awesome knowledge I have gained from reading here) that this website has given me is a deep awakening of what I want out of life, regardless of whether or not Peak Oil really has the devastating effects on my life that some predict. From this list:
1. Mass transit doesn't matter to me. I am in a city that is dense, small, and around 700,000 people, with lots of small towns around it. It's a moot point.

2. I don't live in one, and I never plan to. My next (and most likely final) stop will be a house outside of the city if things get really bad.

3. If I move outside of the city, I will definitely welcome these types of stores en-mass. My goal is to rely less on shopping, and more on self reliance as much as possible.

4. I already live in one, and I have big plans for it now. (solar for some of the appliances, wood furnace to accompany the gas one, etc.) Within 4 years I will be mortgage free, so that will accelerate things even more.

5. I already make it point to do so. We have some idiot neighbors, and some nice ones. If I move out of the city, I will have whomever I choose to talk to in town, however I think my neighbors will be some distance away from me.

6. Already working on that. I make it a personal point to eliminate as much stress as possible, however this is a work in progress.

7. Powering down on this already.

8. I watch as little TV as possible. The news, that'sd about it. Everything else is tripe.

9. Already working on that too.
So for me, regardless of what happens, my plans for "Peak Oil" will happen no matter what happens in the future, good or bad. I don't need to wait. I am making the choices today for tomorrow.
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'I') see some big positives.
1) America becoming more like Europe and developing a real mass-transit system, and not just a dozen empty buses making the obligatory loop around the city.
2) The suburbs and all their ugly McMansions become a thing of the past. Glory be and Hallelujah! It won't take long for the earth to swallow up those plastic monstrosities. The PVC siding can be recycled and the rest of the house will collapse into a pile of substandard building materials and genetically engineered fast-growth warped pine 2x4s and "engineered lumber" which is chip board (OSB) and 2x3s. Ick. Scavengars will pick up the pieces and burn them for firewood. I can't think of a better ending for McMansions, which are actually designed for a LIFE SPAN of 50 years anyway. They were a passing fancy, never intended to endure.
3) Mom and Pop businesses return to the city.
4) Old houses become popular again, as people start to appreciate their ability to remain naturally cool in the hot summers.
5) People start talking to their neighbors. Community returns.
6) Stress levels drop five billion points as people stop commuting for two hours each day and simply "ride the rails" to their jobs.
7) We return to the kind of living we were intended to have, instead of this high-pace, high-stress, frenetic, frantic, mile-a-minute all the time nuttyness and busy-ness.
Eight) God willing, all televisions will be collected and destroyed, and no one will have to hear about American Idol ever again.
Nine) And the very best, perhaps Americans will again become the rugged individualists we were all intended to be.
Just call me hope-full.

[Waterthrush]

This New York Times article on the rethinking of a global supply chain, I think, qualifies as a good result of Peak Oil. The article states that the expense of shipping is beginning to reverse the flow of factories and jobs overseas. The article mentions specifically furniture manufacturing in North Carolina.


I hope this means the industrializing nations will look to enriching their own domestic markets instead of just serving low cost goods to the US - I don't want to see the majority of the world's population doomed to poverty either.

[doodlebug2]

No powerboats, only sail and hand propelled (canoes, row, kayak)
no jetskis. Only commercial fisherman in sailboats. Return of Cliiper ships (maybe).