I was fortunate to enter the GreenMBA with a stark awakening in 2003. It was as if a light had been turned on in a dark room I had been stumbiling around in, able to feel the furniture, but not quite sure of the layout of the room. That awakening was a Peak Oil symposium, given by Richard Heinberg, Michael Ruppert, and Julian Darley. I continued with some course work with Heinberg, and an insatiable thirst for more information on the consequences of the trends I could not explain away, and–perhaps more importantly–a desire to learn response tactics and skills in the face of what seemed like an insurmountable lead time already in play. The vessel needs time to change course, and sometimes after sighting the iceberg is simply too late… but there are always options.
This piece, while a continuation of Richard’s work for those of us that have followed him over the years, represents a new explicit call to focus on our collective and individual Plan B’s; that is: now that it appears that the consequences of energy demand outstripping supply will be an inevitable dilemma to deal with, what do we do? Read the quote below, and see why I resonate with his current thinking. Then if you are called, leave a comment, or contact me directly.
#214: Life After Growth « Richard Heinberg’s Museletter http://bit.ly/bKoHGq
The world has entered a new era. The project of awakening and warning policy makers and the general public was worthy of the investment of all the effort we could muster…. But it is now too late to avert a collapse of the existing system. The collapse has begun.
It is time for a different strategy.
By saying this, I am not suggesting that we should all simply give up and accept an inevitable, awful fate. Even though the collapse of the world’s financial and industrial systems has started, effort now at minimizing further dire consequences is essential. Collapse does not mean extinction. A new way of life will almost certainly emerge from the wreckage of the fossil-fueled growth era. It is up to those of us who have some understanding of what is happening, and why, to help design that new way of life so that it will be sustainable, equitable, and fulfilling for all concerned. We all need practical strategies and tools to weather the collapse and to build the foundation of whatever is to come after.
