[lbo-talk] Why am I so annoyed by James Kunstler's The Long Emergency?

[Bob Morris]

> JHK's point is that nothing has been done, and thus we are screwed.  Our
> entire infrastructure and culture has been molded by cheap energy, and the
> sudden rapid depletion will throw everything off balance.
>

I think in just the past year or so there's been a sea change in public
attitudes on global warming and peak oil, and that things are just now
starting to get better. Massive R&D is happening. Whoever the next president
will be will probably do quite a lot here.  Ditto for big business (GE is
putting $2 billion into renewables research, etc.)

I mean, Walmart said they wanted to sell 100 million cfls in 2007 and met
that goal by Oct. 2. Dubya (yes, Dubya) just signed a bill banning
incandescent light bulbs by 2014.

Yes,  these are small steps, but in a few years I think we'll see huge
progress.

My view of Kuntsler: He's too gloomy. Yes, it may get bumpy, but
increasingly, people do get it.