News update
Commodities crash: Bad news for the world economy, but is anyone listening?
Kurt Cobb
Reading the general run of financial headlines might lead one to believe that price declines in those commodities which are highly sensitive to economic conditions such as iron ore, copper, oil, natural gas, coal, and lumber are good on their face… Food commodities have been swooning as well recently. What is especially telling about the decline in the prices of foodstuffs is how broad-based it is.
As inequality soars, the nervous super rich are already planning their escapes
The Guardian, UK
With growing inequality and the civil unrest, the world’s super rich are already preparing for the consequences. At a packed session in Davos, former hedge fund director Robert Johnson revealed that worried hedge fund managers were already planning their escapes. “I know hedge fund managers all over the world who are buying airstrips and farms in places like New Zealand because they think they need a getaway,” he said. (Also watch: Video interview with Johnson on Zero Hedge)
Why we are at Peak Oil Right Now
Ron Patterson, Peak Oil Barrel
I am putting my reputation on the line in making the claim that the period, September 2014 through August 2015 will be the year of Peak Oil. The peak will straddle the 2014 and 2015 time line. 2016 will be the first full post peak calendar year. It really doesn’t matter how many barrels of oil is left in the ground. The point is we will never again pull it out of the ground at the same rate we are pulling it out right now. Below are my reasons.
After the Peak
Richard Heinberg, Post Carbon Institute
Our challenge will be to frame unfolding events persuasively in ecological terms (energy, habitat, population) rather than conventional political terms (good guys, bad guys), and to offer practical solutions to the burgeoning everyday problems of survival—solutions that reduce ecological strains rather than worsening them.
The Countries That’ll Survive Global Warming
The Huffington Post UK
In 2014, the University of Notre Dame produced a definitive ranking system that showed how countries around the world would fare if global warming increased at its current rate. The rankings took into account the country’s location, its population density and how financially equipped it was to deal with the rising sea level and increase in temperature. (Also read: Energy analyst Euan Mearns’ analysis: How to Mitigate Climate Change)
New research shows nations really do go to war over oil
Petros Sekeris & Vincenzo Bove, The Conversation
In a new paper co-authored with Kristian Gleditsch in the Journal of Conflict Resolution, we model the decision-making process of third-party countries in interfering in civil wars and examine their economic motives. Our research builds on a near-exhaustive sample of 69 countries which had a civil war between 1945 and 1999. We found that the decision to interfere was dominated by the interveners’ need for oil – over and above historical, geographical or ethnic ties.
Shell urges shareholders to accept climate resolution
The Guardian, UK
Shell is set to confront the risk that climate change may pose to its future, after backing a resolution from activist shareholders. The resolution, filed by 150 investors who control hundreds of billions of pounds, requires the oil major to test whether its business model is compatible with the pledge by the world’s nations to limit global warming to 2C.
Tiny House Villages Redefining Home
Cat Johnson, Shareable
Tiny house villages are a new part of the tiny house movement, yet they hold a lot of potential to transform lives and communities. The idea behind these villages is straightforward: bring tiny houses together in one place to create communities that share land, time together, skills, support, and other resources.