Another cluster of reading links

Bangladesh news: Call to find new sources of energy at conference held in China

carbonsink blog: Bill Clinton on peak oil

Phillipines: Biofuels Act approved

Kansas: Ethanol will have big impact on water

Kansas: Plans for ethanol plant draw opposition from residents

Tonight's Reading Links

New Delhi conference wants Afghanistan to become energy bridge

Oil for Nukes

Speaking Truth to Power: Cities Passing Peak Oil Resolutions

CERA Rebuttal: Even if the peak oil optimists are right, time is getting tight

Energy Trends and Implications for U.S. Army Installations (.pdf)

What I've read tonight.

Northwest Progressive Institute USA: Heavy debt puts the economy in trouble

Indonesia: Bush expected to boost RIs biofuel development program

Vermont: Future without oil looks bleak

China shifts on CO2 energy tax

Switzerland: Public slow to plug in to renewable energy

Resource Insights: Does The Oil Drum threaten CERAs market share?

Sorry. Not too much time to comment tonight. Too busy reading!

Oil, Smoke & Mirrors.

"Oil, Smoke and Mirrors" is an independent 50 minute documentary on peak oil, 9/11 and the war on terror. Some oil depletion advocates take this view ad some do not. I leave it her for you to view and make your own judgement.

boston.com: Rhode Island shutoffs at all-time high

Clicke here for article.

Just call me Lou Dobbs....making people aware of the middle class struggle!

Seriously, though. I would stay away from natural gas as much as possible. I have natural gas usage that includes my heating, dryer, hot water heater, and stove. Since the NG cliff is alot steeper than the coal cliff, my goal is to try and switch over to electric. I could also be more adaptable to any renewable energy that way, too.

DesMoinesRegister.com: Will there be enough corn?

Click here for article.

..."No one thinks Iowa will really convert 8 million acres of land to corn, and some of those proposed distilleries may never be built, given the recent slide in ethanol prices.

But the price of corn is steadily rising, and farmers are going to have grow more of it.

What does this mean for Iowa?

- More money in the pockets of farmers and landowners.

- Without careful conservation measures, more pollution in the state's rivers and streams as farmers use more fertilizer.

- Potentially, higher prices for food, primarily meat, as the price of feed goes up."...

..."To keep up with the demand for corn by producers like Tyson, some Iowa farmers are starting to grow corn year after year on the same ground, rather than rotating the fields between corn and soybeans. Farmers who do that increase their use of fertilizers and pesticides to maintain corn yields. Soybean plants add nitrogen to the soil, which reduces the need for synthetic fertilizer when corn is planted the following year.

Some of the nitrogen fertilizer applied by farmers will inevitably run off fields and pollute nearby streams and rivers, including the Des Moines and Raccoon, which supply drinking water to the Des Moines area."...

treehugger: "Colorado USA Enacts Carbon Tax"

Click here for full article.

Energy Bulletin: Congressional Peak Oil Caucus Responds to CERA Study

Click here for full article.

"Congressman Bartlett said, "The CERA report agrees that world oil production will peak and projects it will occur within 20-25 years. However, world demand is growing exponentially - faster than production so the CERA report confirms the likelihood of future shortages of liquid fuel and much higher and volatile prices. A major flaw in the CERA report is its reliance upon questionable assessments of global reserves by the USGS. USGS estimates of future world reserves equate a 50 percent probability with a 50th percentile or mean. That is a bizarre and totally inaccurate use of statistics. It almost doubles the amount of projected reserves compared to the 95 percent probable estimate. Actual discoveries are tracking the 95 percent probable trend. That means world oil production will peak much sooner than CERA projects in this report."

Now, before the new congress goes into its first session, would be the optimal time for us to contact our newest representatives and let them know about Rep. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and to tell them to meet with and support him. Congressman Bartlett is one of my favorites!!!

Ron Paul: Demographic Reality and the Entitlement State

Click here for full article.

As with most every liberally-minded person, my dream is for all to have decent healthcare and retirement. However, looking into my crystal ball causes me to arrive at a realistic conclusion that it will not be ultimately possible. This is purely from a peak oil-believing perspective, mind you. That's NOT to say I won't go down kicking and screaming, trying to squeeze the last drop of these benefits those ahead of me have enjoyed and of which I have helped them to enjoy!!!!! In the end, though, I know what beholds me in my old age...if I live that long...as her mind restlessly fluctuates between the possibilities...

Peak Oportunity! Earth Liberation and the Oil Endgame

Click here for full article.

"By fighting to minimize civilization's ability to weather the peak oil storm through the use of unsustainable "alternatives," we can hopefully accelerate civilization's collapse and preserve what remains of our planet's ecological integrity. In the ashes of industrial monoculture, thousands of neotribal nomadic communities, autonomous ecovillages and bioregional confederations uniting them could bloom amid rewilded landscapes. The oil endgame might be our last opportunity for full-fledged Earth liberation. Will we seize it or let it slip by?"

Huh? Uh, as you will see, not all articles posted on here will always reflect those of the peaknik blogger. I'm going to include opinion and thought from one end of the spectrum to the other.

onlinejournal: Bush's Chernobyl economy; hard times are on the way

Click here for full article.

"No one believes the price of oil is going down any time soon. As energy prices rise and the housing market falls; consumer spending, which added $825 billion from home equity into last year’s economy, will continue shrivel. Thus, the Fed will have to make the tough choice of whether to loosen the purse strings and lower interest rates to keep the economy sputtering along or ratchet up rates to attract more foreign investment. (Keep in mind that the real estate market is already in retreat, even though the full force of the Fed’s interest rate increases won’t be felt for up to six to 12 months after they have been raised. The worst is yet to come)

Most economists believe that Fed Chairman Bernancke will be forced to lower rates sometime in 2007 to try to stimulate the economy and to affect a “soft landing” in the housing market, but don’t count on it.

I believe the Fed is more likely to either keep rates the same or raise them to outpace the anticipated increases in Europe and Asia. The reason for this is simple: it presently takes nearly $2.5 billion per day to maintain our current account deficit. To continue to attract foreign capital, US Treasuries must offer a higher rate of return than their foreign competitors. Now that the economies in Europe and Asia are growing, their interest rates are going up accordingly (to slow inflation). That means that the only way that America can continue to expand its debt, through the exchange of fiat currency for resources and manufactured goods, is by raising the return on Treasuries. And, that is probably what Bernanke will do, even though it will skewer the struggling American worker and the US economy at the same time.

The secret to running the global economic system is to control the issuance of currency and thereby be in a position to expand one’s own debt as one sees fit. The Federal Reserve must preserve its “dollar hegemony” if it wants to maintain the greenback as the world’s “reserve currency.” To accomplish that, the dollar must stay one step ahead of its competitors (higher rates) and prove that it is on solid financial footing. This is impossible now that the US economy is contracting, so Washington has decided to do the next best thing; corner the oil market. By controlling Middle East oil, US policy-makers believe that they can force foreign nations to accept the debt-plagued greenback regardless of the faltering US economy. It is no different than any other extortion racket.

If the plan succeeds the dollar will remain the de facto international currency. But it is a difficult task and the escalating violence in Iraq suggests that the results are far from certain."

You don't have to tell me I have a fetish for doomsday literature! I look at it as having my eyes wide open. I like to be prepared for the worst, and if something better happens, I'm REALLY happy. I don't like surprises.

Okay, so I'm a little PO'd right now.....

...pun intended. I want to keep my Peak Oil Premonitions blog more upbeat and positive. I want that to be a positive blog that looks at peak oil and its basics and peak oil solutions. I named this blog so because I want to include here all of the articles and ideas I have about peak oil, economics, and politics. This will be a bit more grim.