Breaking the Social Contract

Friday, February 10, 2006

This is Disappointing

So this is how Richard Heinberg answered a question from a lady intervieing him for the Eugene Weekly:

How do you respond to people who don't take peak oil seriously?

I think we need to focus primarily on policy-makers, and not try to get all of the folks who are at home watching television, eating pizza and drinking beer to sit up and start talking about peak oil. We need to get city councils, county boards of supervisors, people at the state level, and also prime ministers and presidents to look at this situation seriously, because they're responsible for other people's lives. We could see Hurricane Katrina coming for days and hundreds of miles away. Peak oil is the same thing; we can see it coming. The question is, are we going to do anything about it?

This is not a very radical perspective. Heinberg must be completely consumed with peak oil, because judging from this statement he doesn't seem to have any social perspective. Put peak oil in context, man, it isn't the only issue that will shape societal change!

posted by Sam at 6:22 PM

9 Comments:

  • Very disturbing indeed. This is like the 90th time I've read this post, though. So tired...

    By Blogger Unknown, at 8:44 PM  

  • I don't think it's so much disturbing as a decent example of why we shouldn't pay too much attention to the peak oil ideologists: they see the world practically only in terms of supplies of oil, seemingly, and even those least inclined to be conservative (like Heinberg) really are. I would kind of expect this sort of thing coming from them.

    By Blogger Jake R., at 1:21 AM  

  • Yeah, but he's also an anarchist. And I don't think they should be called the "peak oil ideologists," given that it's a scientific theory, not an ideology. Most of them probably are ideologues in many ways though, like Kunstler (that book was great, but hilarious and ridiculous at times to, like when he says hordes of Asians will come invade the west coast; his complicated and detailed mapping of the future; his feeble attempts to justify the war in Iraq, and much else.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 4:28 PM  

  • I think that if Heinberg can write say something like this quote that Sam posted, then he cannot be considered an anarchist. I've never heard himself explicitly call himself that, either, although in "The Party's Over" he gives props to anarchists in several places and he has written a few things for the Fifth Estate.
    Anyhow, certainly peak oil is a science-based theory, but I think that there obsessive and inane focus on that as the seemingly sole factor in society, as well as a number of other things, such as acceptance of capitalism, more than justify calling their stuff ideology. It doesn't mean they can be ignored; I mean hey, I've read a bunch of that stuff and I'm going to read that Kunstler book pretty soon, but I just don't think that they have that much to offer, beyond their basic explanation of petroleum and the consequences of it. I don't think that the increasing proliferation of peak oil books, study groups, organizations, and individuals who are obsessed with it is a beneficial development.

    By Blogger Jake R., at 5:01 PM  

  • Ah, stupid errors. *their

    By Blogger Jake R., at 5:02 PM  

  • Don't need to read the Kunstler book, you don't really learn anything. Or if you do read it, make sure to read it in about 15 minutes, you'll get all the major points.

    But yeah, I think Hubbert's peak, there's enough evidence for it to call it a theory. Anyway, you're right about focusing on it above all else, but Heinberg at least supports anarchism, he just goes about it in all the wrong ways (as if it will be brought about from the top down). And it is a major issue, and Heinberg generally comes from a perspective I like, though this quote is terrible.

    By Blogger Unknown, at 11:03 PM  

  • Hey sam, is there an online version of the insurgent? I really want to read what you guys are writing but I haven't read anything past the issue with your article on peak oil. Anyway, send me an email or just post a comment on here if you know anything about that. Thanks

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 9:19 PM  

  • The insurgent website has not been updated since 2001, but it nevertheless exists. They should really get a new one/update it and make it current.

    By Blogger Jake R., at 10:16 PM  

  • We actually are working on a new website right now. Mayhaps it will be up soon. I'll definitely post the details when they become available.

    By Blogger Sam, at 12:29 AM  

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