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by Dan Bednarz
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28 January 2009 |
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Author’s note: This article will be followed by “How Brittle Is Healthcare?”
As societies throughout the world wobble on the edge of socioeconomic chaos, New York Times columnist Bob Herbert avers, “The economy is obviously issue No. 1.” Well, that’s the proximate problem, but what else is going on? What has made the continuing decline so massive? Why is it that “...the current economic crisis has totally scrambled the intellectual assumptions of almost every policymaker”?(1) |
Energy and Survival 
The following talk was given on February 13, 2009, at Cowell Theatre in Fort Mason Center, San Francisco, to an audience of 550 people. Audio and video of the talk will be available on Long Now Foundation web site.
"Most rich countries governments seem blind to the havoc and misery agrofuels are causing in the third world, on top of climate stresses, including increasing health and drought problems." 
Nuclear Power was a mistake and remains a mistake. If the human family
survives it, our descendants will wonder what we were thinking to justify
leaving them nuclear power's toxic legacy -- a legacy they will be dealing
with for hundreds if not thousands of generations.
We are now facing an energy crossroad as a culture. Everyone was effected by the price of gas that peaked during the summer of 2008. The world has fallen into a consumer trap where a growing number of people around the world use finite oil resources to drive to work. The energy it takes to drive a car is like having 700 human slaves pushing that vehicle for a few cents per hour. 
Songs of Petroleum is available now.
