I've tried explaining to my folks several times... they come up with answers like the universe is full of energy" or "we'll have hydrogen powered cars soon" or that they've lived through plenty of doom-mongering in the past and nothing bad's happened so everything is alright.
Oh well. My small circle of friends who I've spoken to are intelligent and understand what I'm saying. And another friend who I've said nothing to on the subject reckons petrol will be ?5 a litre soon and we'll be rationing it.
[PV post] Peoples responses to peak oil
Moderator: Peak Moderation
I totally agree with James and urge those who have given up trying to persuade others to try again.PowerSwitchJames wrote:I keep on telling them.
I suggest you do too.
.....
Just keep on telling people. If you care about them tell them. If they deny it go back with more evidence and arguments. This really is an argument you can't lose. Is there an objection you can't overcome? I haven't heard one.
PLANT THE SEEDS.
I find actual production curves of the US48 and UK fields are a good starter and follow this up with that fact that in 2003 we found 7 billion barrels but consumed 29billion.
We cannot solve this problem on our own but there are two positive things that we can do that will ameliorate problems ahead:
a) inform as many people as possible
b) modify our own behaviour and learn new skills to reduce our own dependance on oil
If some people diss you when you explain it to them tell them that you want them to look into the subject or listen to you because you care about them. If they're 'mainstream' people send them BBC news links or try this link
Just don't give up please.
I've actually found a lot of my friends are quite receptive to the peak oil concept.
Most, if not all, seem to agree that oil is a non-renewable resource and expect it to run out at some point. What most of them are quite surprised at is that we only need to run out of the 'cheap stuff' in order for things to start going wrong.
I found one easy way to convince them is to get them to piece together what is happening around the world i.e. the Iraq War, Blair's push for renewables / nuclear power all dressed up in 'climate change', all this talk of a 'hydrogen economy' from Bush etc, not to mention the steadily rising oil prices, along with the comments from Middle East oil ministers about 'raising production', which doesn't seem to budge oil prices.
I also passed around my copy of 'The Party's Over' by Richard Heinberg, which seems to be getting some real attention, going by the state of it...
I've also directed them to the many well-produced sites such as this one, the site run by ASPO etc, to show them that the concept is recieving a lot of attention in the alternative media sources.
Most, if not all, seem to agree that oil is a non-renewable resource and expect it to run out at some point. What most of them are quite surprised at is that we only need to run out of the 'cheap stuff' in order for things to start going wrong.
I found one easy way to convince them is to get them to piece together what is happening around the world i.e. the Iraq War, Blair's push for renewables / nuclear power all dressed up in 'climate change', all this talk of a 'hydrogen economy' from Bush etc, not to mention the steadily rising oil prices, along with the comments from Middle East oil ministers about 'raising production', which doesn't seem to budge oil prices.
I also passed around my copy of 'The Party's Over' by Richard Heinberg, which seems to be getting some real attention, going by the state of it...
I've also directed them to the many well-produced sites such as this one, the site run by ASPO etc, to show them that the concept is recieving a lot of attention in the alternative media sources.
Yes, I would include these sites, amonst many others, but I guess you could argue that the 'net itself can be anternative media source, as it's (not yet) governed in any way in which material gets covered.
In addition it could be argued that these could be called 'conspiracy theory' sites, but in their own way are no worse than the news programmes on TV that so often cover spurious articles.
In addition it could be argued that these could be called 'conspiracy theory' sites, but in their own way are no worse than the news programmes on TV that so often cover spurious articles.
There is something to be said for the old adage but it's a very very small something.One Eye Open wrote:There is something to be said for the old adadge "Ignorance is bliss." My knowledge of PO frankly bums me out. There is not a single thing I can do about it.
I've always believed the phrase "No one ever made a bigger mistake than thinking he could do nothing because he could only do a little". So many people feel they have no way of altering the direction in which their life moves or the environment in which they travel. What happened to self development personal empowerment shaping your own destiny taking responsibility for your own life? We live in a generally passive society where reality is something that happens on Channel 4 under the watchful eyes of a multitude of cameras.
This web site is a concrete (if I may use the term!) example that gives the lie to your "There is not a single thing I can do about it." PO would not be in the papers magazines and the BBC if nobody mentioned it. There would not be a Hirsch report or a conference in Scotland attended by members of the oil industry or in fact any of the myriad PO sites around the world. Admittedly despite the BBC saying it's entered the mainstream I don't think we're quite there yet.
Everytime you use act on this knowledge you are changing the world and reshaping the future. Get together with enough people let more people know contact the media and let's keep pushing. I believe that as humans we have a moral responsibility to do the right thing whenever we can - and sitting around ignoring reality and encouraging our own destruction doesn't seem the right approach to me.
In addition to my other post suggesting we keep on plugging away, I came across this on Apple's site today and thought that it could be quite inspiring - you can view the short trailer in QuickTime. http://www.lunamedia.org/
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