[JudoCow09]

I've brought up conversations with many of my friends which most were fairly intelligent talking about alternate energy. All the smart people I know we are running out of oil. He's says he's hoping for advancements in technology otherwise "We're screwed". It seems everyone is aware of our coming energy crisis, and most of them are actually talking about the most pratical solutions. Too bad none of them can invest money in anything.

The point is though that people are aware of a fairly soon energy crunch, or at least the fairly intellictual at my school. I just never realized it. Of course, they're investing their time in researching alternatives rather than researching our ultimate demise.

[cmlek]

Well yes and no. The research in the news is the type that requires a lot of fancy gadgets and intricate science, and in the end is a subtle way for the universities and governments to show off what they've invested in. However, many colleges are developing (or expanding) environmental engineering programs. (I just found out we have one here at Purdue.) And much of what's getting done there is *very* worthwhile in preventing our 'ultimate demise', such as studies on how to better purify contaminated water, how to fish farm without causing massive pollution (and how to fertilize a garden with the water so you don't cause pollution *and* you conserve water, and you're not dependent on petrofertilizers, etc.), stuff like that.

The truth of the matter is that even if oil peaked last year, we still have 10-12ish years where something like the status quo can be maintained. I can't really fault the people looking for alternatives - I think every bit helps. But I do think we'd all be better served by a massive education and conservation campaign, that way it won't be just the intellectuals concerned with PO. To my mind, the biggest problem is that "what needs to be done" is very region- and person-specific, so I have a hard time getting my head around a single grand Plan for a changeover.

I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on what things could/should be done on a large scale. (I'm actually slated to give a small class on all this at the community center next spring, so I'm trying to get all the input I can.) For what little its worth, I offer you what encouragement I can, and ask that you look at this again in a year. Remember: for a lot of the US, the only time they started *really* hearing PO in the news was when Katrina hit, so they'll need time to absorb, process and get over their first panic reaction before people start asking "What's the plan?"

Looking forward to reading your thoughts on this,
Melissa

[OurDoom]

I've noticed exactly the opposite as of late: there are still very few people who are PO aware, and for at least the next several months many people will forget that gas prices were about $2.60 before Katrina and be inclined to believe that Katrina is the cause of all of America's energy problems. Unfortunately, PO was beginning to make inroads into the MSM just in the weeks prior to when Katrina struck. Tom Mast was on a segment on CBS Up to the Minute eloquently describing the basics of PO, and there was also a segment about PO on CNN than Monte mentioned, but I have yet to hear any mention of PO in the MSM after Katrina and I doubt I'll be hearing it mentioned at all in the near future at least.

[rogerhb]

Don't forget most people have the attention span of a goldfish.

[Aaron]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rogerhb', 'D')on't forget most people have the attention span of a goldfish.

[lowem]

My boss (head of software R&D) is PO-aware.

After reading my blog, one of the Java architects in my team has been, umm, helping to spread the word, sort of. The "installer guy" (who writes the scripts for the product installer) has blogrolled me as "the peak oil guy" - well, at least in the company, local office.

The team's a bunch of Java/J2EE architects and senior softare engineers, well-informed folks, geek-type, you know the sort. The advent of $70 oil has probably stirred up some interest, what with the Straits Times (the national newspaper) putting up the NYT Maass article as a full-page spread recently.

Of course, most of them are car owners too, and when it starts to hurt in the wallet, these folks probably wanna find out what the heck's going on

[ohanian]

So many have heard about PO
But so few has accepted it.