----- Original Message ----- From: Owen Byrne To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 3:14 PM Subject: Re: [lbo-talk] the petro-thusians have their moment
james at communistbanker.com wrote:
>Why is it that it's so often the same people who worry about
>destroying the planet by burning oil AND worry about running out? If
>both are true, shouldn't they celebrate the running out part, and not
>bother with environmental politics at all? Doug has consistency in
>favour of his approach to this.
>
>But all of the debate about climate change still hasn't produced a
>consensus. Can't some of the petro-thusians take time out and
>tell us what the alternative is? If we are going to have to switch from
>fossil fuel reliance, how exactly will you manage the massive shift in
>living patterns, the enforced parochialism of a world without cars,
>how will you distribute the misery and impoverishment that it would
>cause? Just saying that we MUST use less, that we MUST develop
>alternatives is not an answer to this.
>
>
>
IMHO - home-working/telecommuting on a much greater scale would greatly
reduce oil consumption. What percentage
of the work force sits in traffic for hours only to sit in front of a
computer screen that they could just as easily have at home? -
except of course for the need to massage the boss's ego.
Owen ===========================
The Dog Bites column in San Francisco Weekly reported a few years back that a Bay Area daily had done an interview with the manager of a "Server Farm" in the SF area. The manager is said to have boasted that the electricity for the air conditioning to cool the building used the equivalent of 2 million American homes.
Dog Bites also reported that the phone book had no listing for "server farm" and they were unable to figure out how many of those facilities are *in* the Bay Area.
And if my town ever figures out how to get more than 2 bikes on a bus I'll be stunned!
Who's got the calculator? Is it all one big zeo-sum? Leigh Meyers leighcmeyers at yahoo.com
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