[log in to unmask] wrote:
> i can tell you from personal experience that it's much easier to consume less when you are poor.
>   
Thanks for both truth and humor in the same line. Classic.
>  if fuel goes way up, shipping food will become prohibitive (and likewise, bees).
We tend to think in the concept of a static universe, that what we have 
now is what will be in the future. I am sure those who needed whale oil 
for lighting and lubrication were looking at a bleak future as prices 
rose because of scarcity. It is interesting that oil is now over the 
price that makes alternative electrical supply attractive as well as 
procuring oil from oil shale, which the US and Canada have a huge 
supply. (It is not in OPEC's interest to let it get much higher.A couple 
of years ago the break even number was about $80 a barrel, so my guess 
is it will stabilize around the mid 80s.They do not want a worthless 
commodity.)

We really cannot see very far into the future and what discoveries 
await. We still have that great big furnace in the sky that will be good 
for another 3-5 billion years. Even coal in the US would last about 200 
years. Methane from the ocean is estimated to be able to supply the 
world for 10,000 years. Thin film solar panels are right at the break 
even point for home electrical supply. Even oil, which is thought to be 
a non-renewable resource seems to be replenishing itself in some 
reservoirs and may be formed by methane cracking deep in the earth.

There is so much we do not know about the future that we worry about 
things we have no idea will happen. If you want to worry, worry about 
the well intentioned nutcases out there who have way too much fervor and 
want us all to live properly, but as they dictate and with the sacrifice 
of our freedom After all, we cannot save the planet without "sacrifice" 
and they will determine what we sacrifice (not necessarily what they 
give up).C.S. Lewis said it well. They are the ones to fear.

Bill Truesdell
Bath, Maine

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