site { World Without Oil
Check it out. I've heard it described as a 'what if?' site documenting how the world degraded in a oil shock scenario. Its meant to be informative and educational. I'm still checking it out to make more sense out of it, but it is very, very interesting.
Chronicle the new future. They're simulating what the country would look like/degrade into as gas prices rose and oil availability started dwindling. And you are invited to take part.
I may discuss this with Team CubeZoo and we might put something together, since this is an important subject to us.
from their about page:
WHAT'S HAPPENING?
There's an oil shock going on. It started April 30, 2007. The world oil supply is falling short of demand - by 1.5% at first, but it's expected to increase to 3% or more throughout 2007.
WHAT'S THIS WEBSITE FOR?
We had a clue that an oil shock was going to happen, so we set up this website as a central point to assemble information about its effects. We don't want a repeat of the Hurricane Katrina debacle, where news from the government and media was spotty and often inaccurate. It’s our belief that truth comes from people telling their own stories. (To quote Gracesmom: "You gotta grow truth out the ground, coax it on up. Because it sure don’t rain down outta the sky.")
WHO ARE WE?
We’re a group of people that suffered together through a little mini-crisis, the December 2006 closure of the Denver airport. Most of us had never met until that episode. One of the things we discussed at length was how the Internet should be used to cover a crisis... and we discovered that it was nothing that the ten of us couldn’t do. So here we are, just doin’ it.
WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?
Tell us your story. Fuel prices are sky high (see top of this page!) and the ripple effects are pulling at the seams of our society (see the latest Weekly Story). Everyone’s life has taken a hit - but how much of a hit are you taking? How much pain are you in? No one will know if you don’t add your voice to the collective shout. And who knows? If enough people speak up, maybe the force of collective truth will help prevent this crisis from ever happening again.
UM, CAN YOU SHOW ME AN EXAMPLE?
You bet! Here are other people’s stories: videos, phone calls and audio, images, and blogs and other writing. Pick one and see what you think!
I'M A TEACHER. CAN SCHOOLS HELP?
Yes. Students can be a big force in capturing the stories of the crisis. Guidelines are here.
I’M STILL CONFUSED.
Sorry ‘bout that. Try here.
4 comments:
It's interesting...but I suspect we'll encounter more of a "plateau step-down" than an out-and-out plunge from the Hubbert Peak.
I dunno about that. Humans are irrational and emotional beings. Could go either way. Depends a lot on the greed takers and the people up top and people like you and me.
Greed. Yep.
When did opportunism, selfishness, dishonesty, duplicity, and avarice become virtues in our society? Seriously, have people never even bothered to read about the fall of the Western Roman Empire? Hello, parallels!
As for the Peak Oil, well, I will admit that the threat has resulted in real changes in my thinking.
My crappy, unusable garden plot behind my house? I'll be clearing that out this summer to actually start -- gasp! -- growing food there.
My commute? Even 12 miles feels a little long for my liking. Even if my job was good -- and boy, is it not -- I think I'd be looking for something closer to home.
My hobbies? Increasingly involve being outside, and not indoors sucking power.
Summer mode of weekend travel? Bicycles. For the whole family. And we love it. (It cracks me up when we'll stop to eat somewhere all of four miles from our house and people will say "You biked all the way over here?!" Come on! It's nothing!)
We've also paid down almost all of our small debt and are thinking in terms of "Well, where should we store water and MREs?"
Of course, all of these things are healthy choices, with or without PO.
"I suspect we'll encounter more of a 'plateau step-down' than an out-and-out plunge from the Hubbert Peak."
I agree with you, avindair. I think World Without Oil (www.worldwithoutoil.org) describes the first step down.
Post a Comment