peak energy in the news:

With Transition, many people encounter the model, the tools, the Network, and enter what we might call ‘Super Exuberance Mode’, where they feel they have found the One Thing That Will Save Us. Over time, this then calms down, and they become more realistic and grounded, but although that early stage is a powerful experience for many, it also has its inherent dangers.

Friedman operates much like the fifties cartoon character Tom Terrific, who possesses a magical thinking cap that transports him out of any jam in which he finds himself.

“I’d rather you didn’t mention the company by name. In fact, better not mention my name, either, because the story is a disaster. We don’t want (the information) out yet.”

From an officer in a small oilsands company – call him Don Fischer, – that comment sums things up for many juniors. Fischer argues, however, that the recent meltdown in global financial markets is only the killer blow in a credit squeeze within Canada’s petroleum sector that has been developing for three years.

Last week the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris released their annual report on the state of the world's energy resources -- World Energy Review 2008. As the world's energy situation becomes more and more confused, with prices gyrating wildly, and with more voices warning of unprecedented problems just ahead, this 569-page report stands as the most authoritative description of what will happen to the world's energy supply. The energy policies of the 28 countries that are members of the IEA in theory hinge on the report's findings - and that is where the trouble comes in. ... if one reads between the lines and uses the data to draw one's own conclusion, the new report simply screams that peak oil and all that it implies is just about here.

John Michael Greer wonders whether the Transition Town Movement is engaging in "premature triumphalism." As a part of the initiating group in Transition Town Montpelier, which on Tuesday received official recognition from the international transition folks, I doubt it.

We're happy if people even notice what we're up to.

A weekly update including:
- Prices continue to fall
- The OPEC meetings

The Transition Town movement has attracted a great deal of attention from within the Peak Oil community. Is it the wave of the sustainable future, or an experiment still waiting for results to come in?

The 30 greatest conspiracy theories: #20 The peak oil conspiracy
Kunstler and Darley view a post-oil future
Objectivity of the International Energy Agency
The perils of cheap oil
Byron King: Unsustainable energy trends

You never know exactly what will happen as a result of a severe economic crisis. Few people discuss it since it is quite taboo to speculate on any scenario that doesn't include growth and consumption... But I'll take a crack at a few broad predictions that are predicated on the economic crisis getting worse over the next 9-12 months, which I think it will...

The last few months have seen a significant stalling in plans and proposals to build new wind-based power generation. These delays and cancellations have significant implications for two important components of American energy.