Positive developments are on the upswing, such as anti-Iraq-War stirrings and the demonstrations against greenhouse gases around the world on Dec. 3. The challenge is to bring many more people over to thinking in terms of peace and sustainability. We must take certain actions to ensure a safer world because life and nature as we know them are running out of time.

However, it's not so much a political struggle in terms of citizen lobbying, etc., as it's a matter of slashing petroleum use now -- individually, locally, and as a movement. From there we can visualize facing peak oil and petrocollapse in such a way that pursues alternatives in economics and social structures. Technology will primarily be valued for understanding how to mitigate the destructive technology we have allowed.

After a going away party, on September 6 I took a train from Emeryville, California bound for Washington, DC. That was my base for five conferences, mostly in the Eastern U.S., where I had been hired to speak on peak oil and petrocollapse. Here's some of what I said, and what I learned during my odyssey: