Check out this story in today's local newspaper, then come back to me.
With the exception of some of the public comments at the bottom, I am absolutely delighted to see this. No, I haven't finally gone mad, this is actually really good news.
Why? Two reasons.
First, because Andrew McNamara has been appointed as Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability by new Qld Premier, Anna Bligh. Andrew has been on my watch list for a little while now as both the Member for Hervey Bay and the patron of the Australian branch of ASPO - the Association for the Study of Peak Oil (and gas). This guy clearly understands that we are facing an enormous threat in the form of soaring fuel prices and he's now been placed in a position of authority where there's the potential for taking real action towards reshaping our society to cope with it.
Secondly, Peak Oil is now front page news. I've said in the past that I think it's a pity Climate Change got the public's attention first. In my opinion Peak Oil is the more critical problem - though of course our response to it must include a comprehensive strategy to deal with the climate issue. It was inevitable that people would bump into the oil problem eventually but I think today goes down in history as the day that South-East Queensland first took notice.
I wonder how long it'll be before Canberra does the same.
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2 comments:
Hi! I feel compelled to drop you a line from Louisiana, USA. I was just ranting on my blog about one of the very frivilous problems of Peak Oil. When I was done I hit that "next blog" button at the top of the screen and yours showed up. I am really interested in this topic and am subscribing to your blog. My brother interviewed to day with a company in California that is developing solar panels for homes. It's all so interesting and scary!
Amanda, thanks for dropping by and saying hello.
I found your blog and checked out the "frivilous" issue you mentioned. And you're absolutely correct: the decline of cheap, abundant oil is going to impact on just about every aspect of our modern lives, including our love of denim.
It's this kind of realisation that needs to sink in to people, and without meaning any personal offence it particularly needs to hit the citizens of the USA soon and hard.
To give credit where it's due, California is doing some wonderful things and there are other examples of cities like Portland, Oregon taking the issue seriously.
Thanks for reading my blog. I hope you'll find something here which encourages you to seek a sustainable - and wonderful - future for your part of the world.
Cheers,
TB
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