Seven Generational Ruminations

American policies were designed for a world economic arrangement of $20 per barrel of oil. Oil is now at $120 per barrel and climbing. There may be, in the short term, a decrease in the price of oil if the short term supply situation straightens itself out. However, long term, the price of oil is only going to go up. As our dear president said, America is Addicted to Oil but like true addicts we haven't even entered the first step in the 12 step program to recovery. We haven't admitted to our addiction and are in deep denial.

Energy Crossroads: A burning need to change course, asin: B000SNWA2A

In Haiti the food riots were severe enough that a UN "Peacekeeper" was killed, and the Prime Minister was forced to resign.

Over the weekend the more I thought about the food riots the more wrong this seemed. Here are some stories of potential food riots in the Phillipines.

I read this news article immediately after watching an episode of Doctor Who, and it seemed a story that would fit right in. 'A dramatic rise in the worldwide cost of food is provoking riots throughout the Third World where millions more of the world's most vulnerable people are facing starvation as food shortages grow and cereal prices soar.' The article says food riots are occurring in many countries, that the riots are due to rising food prices, and the rising food prices are due to food being diverted to biofuel production.

It seems the businesses surrounding us, the businesses that fill our stores with products, that these businesses are dependent on ever growing sales. The stock market values companies whose earnings are always growing, and punish those whose earnings are stagnant or declining. But, what does this have to do with "use it once and throw it away"?

Al Gore, the big time promotor of environmental awareness and alarming people of global warming... you'd think he'd be living in a super green house and driving a super green car, right? One would hope he'd put his money where his mouth is.

Al Gore's home is a typical mansion of the rich elite in all its energy wasting glory.

George W. Bush's home in Crawford Texas is the epitome of off-the-grid living with every sort of sustainable energy gizmo you could think of.

If only GW would do for the country what he does for himself in his own home.

Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future author: Bill McKibben asin: 0805076263

The average wage in the United States is less now, in real dollars, than it was 30 years ago. Even for those with college degrees, and though productivity was growing faster than it had for decades, between 2000 and 2004 earnings fell 5.2 percent when adjusted for inflation, according to the most recent data from White House economists.

Tree Hugger notes What Should You Do with Extra Glass Bottles? riffing off a question on Apartment Therapy. The question is, you've bought something in a glass bottle, used the contents of the bottle, and now what?

I just recycle stuff. I recycle so much stuff that I hardly ever take out "trash" as most of what I take out gets into the recycling bin instead.

The real cost of a bag of salad: You pay 99p. Africa pays 50 litres of fresh water goes into the real cost of cheap groceries shipped from halfway around the world. More and more every product, from groceries on upward, is shipped around a global free market. The high lord muckety mucks who make all the decisions seem to think free trade is the solution to all economic problems. But what of other problems it creates?

Basically any thing with a circuit board needs to be treated as hazardous waste. Yet, often they aren't. e.g. "There's a lot of stuff in a circuit board that you really don't want to ingest. Lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium all have been shown to have harmful effects on humans." And that's not to mention the plastics in the case, etc.