Energy transition: We need to do it fast and we’re way behind | Peak Oil News and Message Boards

Energy transition: We need to do it fast and we’re way behind  |  Peak Oil News and Message Boards: "Perhaps the most important thing that people don’t realize about building a renewable energy infrastructure is that most of the energy for building it will have to come from fossil fuels. "

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NRDC Poll: Americans Support New Transit Twice as Much as New Roads | Streetsblog Capitol Hill

NRDC Poll: Americans Support New Transit Twice as Much as New Roads | Streetsblog Capitol Hill: "When asked what would solve traffic problems in their community, 42 percent of Americans say more transit. Only 20 percent say more roads. And 21 percent would like to see communities developed that don’t require so much driving. Two-thirds support local planning that guides new development into existing cities and near public transportation."

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We are accelerating toward a cliff that we know is there

Global Warming's Terrifying New Math | Politics News | Rolling Stone

Global Warming's Terrifying New Math | Politics News | Rolling Stone: " So far, we've raised the average temperature of the planet just under 0.8 degrees Celsius, and that has caused far more damage than most scientists expected. (A third of summer sea ice in the Arctic is gone, the oceans are 30 percent more acidic, and since warm air holds more water vapor than cold, the atmosphere over the oceans is a shocking five percent wetter, loading the dice for devastating floods.) "

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Dollar no longer primary oil currency as China begins to sell oil using Yuan | Peak Oil News and Message Boards

Dollar no longer primary oil currency as China begins to sell oil using Yuan  |  Peak Oil News and Message Boards: "“On Friday, Sept. 7, Russia announced, that as of today, we will supply China with all of the crude oil that they need, no matter how much they want… there is no limit. And Russia will not sell or trade this crude oil to China using the American dollar.”"

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Humans have squandered oil, now what?

Do-the-Math blog suggests we migrate away from personal cars

Fossil Fuels: I’m Not Dead Yet | Do the Math: "Accepting behavioral changes could bring a fresh lemon to the scene. Another way to say this is that we will only see substantial improvements in vehicle efficiency if we change our expectations about what a car is supposed to do (or migrate away from personal cars as a primary means of transportation)."

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U.S. gives Israel USD 15M per day, and pretends it is an independent actor

Armada of British naval power massing in the Gulf as Israel prepares an Iran strike - Telegraph: "Battleships, aircraft carriers, minesweepers and submarines from 25 nations are converging on the strategically important Strait of Hormuz in an unprecedented show of force as Israel and Iran move towards the brink of war."

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Cars kill people much more efficiently than do terrorists

  Automotive Deaths Since 9/11/2001 - Death by Car: "From 1/1/2002 through 12/31/2011, National Highway Traffic Safety [sic] Administration statistics show that 392,621 people were killed by motor vehicle collisions in the United States. So, that’s about 100 9/11s. (And it does not count those who died from automotive air pollution and physical deconditioning.)"

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If you are going to borrow money to get out of a hole, then don't use it to buy a bigger shovel

The way capitalism is supposed to work, if you buy unsecured financial instruments, and they cannot be paid back, you lose your money. If these instruments are "insured" by swaps that are not backed-up, then the insurance is due and the insurer must pay or be liquidated.

It is not just the banks that are violating capitalism, the fossil-fuel industry is violating the principal of paying the costs that lead to profit. For many years profits have been made from the autosprawl system, but most of the costs have been deferred to the future or passed to the taxpayer.

Make public transit fare-free and stop subsidizing the private auto.

There is still time.