Letters to the Editor
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Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
I think it was mentioned on the History Channel's program "Crude" that there was originally about 2 1/2 times as much fossil fuel in the ground as would be needed to bring the Earth's climate to a "tipping point" if burned. We are fast approaching or have already reached that tipping point. However, with an infrastructure and mindset built around a cars-and-trucks economy and our political leaders constantly touting the advantages of "global trade", we are caught in a physical and mental trap of our own devising. The transition to a sustainable post-carbon future requires such a revolutionary turnabout in culture, values, ethics, economics, and sheer physical change that I don't think it can be managed within the time remaining to avoid catastrophe.
No, the trucks and SUVs will just keep rolling down the highways as the arctic warms and droughts grip the planet. How else can we feed a huge and mostly urban society without mechanized agriculture and delivery systems? I honestly don't foresee any political leader willing to take this problem by the horns and tell the people the sacrifices they will have to make to survive.