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Editor’s Note: Holiday of crumbling cash

By December 1, 2010
The future looks uncertain, indeed.

'Tis the season to grumble about the excesses and commercialization of our culture, to look back at where we've been in 2010 and to start planning for the coming year. For this reason we thought we'd pile on the anxiety -- but in a totally stress-busting way -- by tackling the subject of the economy in the December issue of Transition Voice. We hope you'll enjoy hearing the thoughts of leading peak oil figures like James Howard Kunstler, Jeff Rubin and Nicole Foss in exclusive, original … [Read more...]

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We are the big society

By December 1, 2010
David Cameron illustration.

If you’ve been paying any attention to British politics, you may have heard the phrase The Big Society. Prime Minister David Cameron coined it as one of his election catchphrases. In a nutshell, the Big Society (yay) is the antithesis of Big Government (boo). It’s citizen power, volunteerism, community action, sisters doing it for themselves! In policy terms, that means creating a national network of volunteers, giving parents the right to start their own schools, and making police … [Read more...]

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Neither apocalypse nor paradise

By November 26, 2010
hi, loser poster

I'm pleased that my little article on the high volume of collapse talk coming  from peak oil writers recently generated some attention. And I'm grateful that as someone so obviously committed to Transition as Dave Ewolt judged my musings worth an intelligent response. I'd like to address some of his excellent points here. For me, there are three issues in talking about any kind of post-peak collapse: what I know, what I don't know, and how I talk to people who don't care. We should be careful … [Read more...]

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Peak-ocalypse now: a cult of doom

By November 22, 2010
the four horsemen of the apocalypse

Change out those barrels of potable water, haul a few more cases of pork-n-beans down to the basement and make sure that Messrs Smith and Wesson are well oiled up. That's right -- it's time again for the Peak Oil Apocalypse show, sponsored naturally, by Goldline International. To hear many peak oil bloggers talk recently, you'd think that Western society was sure to collapse by Christmas. Is "community" bogus? Dmitry Orlov's blog is always a good place to go for a scary peak-oil bed-time … [Read more...]

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Plenty of oil if price is no object

By November 17, 2010
The get rich days of light swet crude are over. But if we're not careful, we're all going back to a hard scrabble life, and not in Beverly Hills. Image: Gary W. Tooze

Last week we reported how the International Energy Agency's 2010 World Energy Outlook said that world oil production peaked in 2006. Yesterday, guest columnist Tom Whipple, editor of ASPO-USA's Peak Oil Review, drilled down a little further into that report to show that if you really parse its contents, you see that while the IEA says the world peaked in 2006, they're also saying it won't really peak until 2035. Huh? Where do they get their reporting guidelines, from the unemployment model … [Read more...]

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Transition within: mental resilience

By November 1, 2010
You're not alone, the end times are freakin crazy!

Almost six years ago I swallowed the little red pill of peak oil, climate change and the growing instability of the world economy. My life has never again been the same. Like a lot of folks, my initial response was, “Oh my God, what do I do?” I was a manager in corporate America with frightfully few useful low-energy skills, so, first I just focused on basic preparation for a lower energy future. I assessed my food resources, water supply, financial choices and health care needs. Frankly, … [Read more...]

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Survival of the fittest

By November 1, 2010
Mmmm, mmm, Red Cross cupcakes!

In a world where natural disasters multiply, infrastructure continues to decay, and the implications of peak oil darken the horizon like a gathering winter storm, planning for emergency response is essential for a community of any size. Emergencies happen.  Trouble can strike the best of people at the best of times.  However, the times ahead will be more challenging. The existing emergency response infrastructure requires much more local input and volunteer effort to remain effective.  The … [Read more...]

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Descending the peak

By November 1, 2010
A female model hanging on the porch of an antique store.

So you understand peak oil. You’ve seen the movie, you get the bell-curve thing. You recognize that oil supplies can’t go on forever, and that the future prospects of cars, aviation, industrial food production and so on are looking dicey. Now what? Like climate change, peak oil presents a huge problem. The scale is breathtaking. It will turn our whole way of life upside down. You start off wondering if you should get a bike. Then, before you know it you’re stockpiling canned goods, … [Read more...]

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Best peak oil bug-out plan

By October 12, 2010
2012 movie poster

The ASPO-USA conference held in Washington, DC earlier this month was not the place to go for apocalyptic scenarios of societal collapse or training on how to fight off MZBs (mutant zombie bikers, that is). There were lots of sober presentations on oil depletion curves, coal depletion curves, and of course, natural gas depletion curves. There were also lively panels on what energy depletion could mean to society, and how it should best deal with the predicament through solar power, local … [Read more...]

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It takes a village to raise the world

By October 2, 2010
Rob Hopkins, co-founder of the worldwide Transition Town Network. Photo: Stephen Prior

For a guy who set out in 2005 to help his small Irish village move toward an economy beyond fossil fuels and ended up spawning a world wide movement that in five short years has lead to 323 Transition groups around the world, Rob Hopkins sure is humble and unassuming. We sat down recently with the no-fly-zone leader for an interview via Skype straight to the beating heart of the Transition Network nerve center to find out just where TN is now in its development, and what makes Hopkins tick. … [Read more...]

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