Is this the trigger for Peak Oil, TEC ?

[desertbear2]

Bush: "The American way of life is not negotiable"

Greetings all.

Bush & Cheney and rest of these idiots do not speak for many(most?) of Americans.

But they are right in that the US way of life is not negotiable. Worse than that, it's totally unsustainable for much longer. It is the last wave of fools that are still taking out big loans and buying SUVs and McMansions. However, the SUVs have lost their attraction for many people- the car-buying public looks like it is going for the gas mileage in the next wave.

I don't know to what degree Americans will be able to cut back on energy usage as the whole economic system here is so tightly strung and everyone is running at double-speed just to stay even. Most people are up to their eyeballs in debt and have gotten themselves into a situation where they will just have to hit the wall....probably as the US economy crashes.

Hopefully, the New Orleans debacle will snap people here out of their shopping mall trances and get going on a more sustainable way of life. And to elect some real leaders.....

[khim]

Hopefully, the New Orleans debacle will snap people here out of their shopping mall trances and get going on a more sustainable way of life. And to elect some real leaders.....

May be. May be not. My acquaintance was in New Orleans. Conclusion: "big babies". A lot of people died from thirst. From thirst! In flooded town. When my acquaintance tried to explain how you can convert any water to distillate with a shit of tin and two vessels (one inflammable) they looked at him as he'd suddenly grown two heads - and noone even tried to do so! They do know that "drinking water comes in bottles". Period. They do not know anything about survival! And they do not try to learn even when faced with death threat!

[fishertrop]

In 2001 the UK government estimated that 4 million households in the UK suffered from fuel poverty ? ?A fuel poor household is one that cannot afford to keep adequately warm at reasonable cost. The most widely accepted definition of a fuel poor household is one which needs to spend more than 10% of its income on all fuel use and to heat its home to an adequate standard of warmth. This is generally defined as 21?C in the living room and 18?C in the other occupied rooms - the temperatures recommended by the World Health Organisation.?

Am I the only one who thinks 21degC is TOO WARM for the living room?

If the WHO is mandating that temperature then it's really not helping reasonable use of energy.

Surely "adequate standard of warmth" starts first with putting on an extra T-shirt and a jumper?

Surely it's actually a level of heat that means you don't freeze to death or get frost-bite, not "you can lounge in the armchair wearing only a thong and be nice and warm".

If it's minus 5 outside and your room is 10degC and you have a jumper on then you need not be in much discomfort, right?

[snow hope]

I am comfortable at 18c. I would say 14c in the sitting room is getting on the cold side.

But is it all relative? People in Spain/Australia may think 21c is a touch cool?

People in Finland may think 18c is a bit warm?

My wife would be comfortable at 21c (but she may be a reptile )