Actually, I am doing something about it.

I am sharing what I have learned about possible (I think probable) future events as related to the use of petroleum and other natural resources.

I support drilling for oil and natural gas on private and public lands. But perhaps not right now. And this is why: In twenty years ANWR oil will be worth 10 times what it is now. We should absolutely do exploratory drilling, but wait on developement. This is a stratigic reserve now, let's use up theirs first. Selfish nationalism? Sure.

That also applies to the mineral reserves of this country. I believe they should be explored, defined, then left in the ground. One day they will be mined. Selfishly, that will provide employement to many out of work field geologists. My career involves discovering ore bodies. Not for purely academic purposes, but to mine them. If people didn't mant metal, there would be no mines. In the meantime we can rape Chile for its copper, South Africa for diamonds (an important industrial mineral), gold, and uranium, Indonesia for its nickel. I know I will upset some with that notion, but if it cannot be grown it has to mined. I like my car, my mountain bike, my snowshoes, my computer, airplanes, mars rovers, and all those other things made o' metal.

I invested alot of money in a residential photovoltaic system. It is not currently cost effective but it may be in the future, when electricity could be far more expensive. I, like Tony, believe in local generation. And by investing in it now I helped spur research and bring the cost down in the future. And when the power goes out in the neighborhood, I laugh. When I mow the yard using an electric mower on a sunny day, I laugh. The power used to post my rants on HZ comes from the sun.

Descibing a potential problem and designing solutions to the problems are two different steps in stratigic thought. If a person points out a problem, that person is under no obligation to find the solution. Buckminster Fuller said human beings gather information and solve problems. We can all take turns. (OTOH, you're right, whinning gets us nowhere.) It's a big weird world and it is only getting weirder, best think stratigically and long term. That's what all those chicken-littles in the Pentagon are doing. They've pointed out potential problems and offered no solutions, just the advice to "look out!".

Not the kind of talk you'd expect from a guy who often votes Democratic, who believes in unavoidable global climate change, the way past-sustainable population crunch, and the future waning of petroleum production. Don't pigeon-hole people, Tom, they will always surprise you. As a scientist I urge you to challenge assumptions and resist believing something just 'cause it is a talking point from either liberal or conservative camps. Look at the arguments from reasonable people from both sides of an argument and decide for yourself. Have you read anything I've recomended?

And I'm not all that gloomy, really, pretty-light hearted overall. I just see some clouds on the horizon. They don't get in the way of my enjoying now. I don't believe the world is coming to an end. I do know, from studing 4.5 billion years of earth's history, that Mother Nature can be a real bitch and that she will out live us and our species.