This was the title of a presentation given by Jeff Rubin, an economist from CIBC World Markets at the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (USA) conference taking place right now in the states.
According to the Oil Drum, Rubin showed a slide comparing the cost of shipping a 40 foot container from China to the US.
A few years ago, the cost would have been $3,000. It now costs $10,000. If oil rises to $150 a barrel, it will cost $15,000.
Think about this for a moment.
In a world where nations are fighting it out for the one resource the world relies on for...just about everything...the first major causality will be transport.
Yeah, you'll be driving and flying less, big deal, we can live with that. But as for imports, all that stuff we get via cheap labour in the east, what do you think will happen to that? What impact will that have on your life?
So what will happen?
At best: manged re-localisation, this is where transition initiatives and projects come into play on a local/regional scale, and government resources on the nationwide scale.
At worst: an unmanaged powerdown, nations battling it out, suffering on a huge scale and not just in the third world, this means us, "sitting here in my safe European home".
Showing posts with label transition. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transition. Show all posts
Haven't got much time this morning, off to the Castle to climb with Harry.
- last night's mini-meeting of Ely Sustainable City / Transition Ely (whatever we're called) was inspiring, fun and very creative
- I saw blackberries on sale in Waitrose, packed in plastic, driven 100 miles plus across the country from Kent. Hey folks! Blackberries are FREE and grow all around Ely, open your eyes, go pick, pies for all!!
- our neighbour's sugar snap plant - I have never tasted sugar snaps like this. Crunchy, refreshing and soooooo sweet. It is true what they say about locally grown food.
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