That has been my general impression as well. Is is more realistic to say biofuels could become one small piece of the pie of replacements for fossil fuels?

Just a quick follow up with two thoughts:

1) I wouldn’t be surprised if Europeans, on average, are better informed than Americans on these issues. In fact, I’d be surprised if they weren’t. In the US we have access to plenty of information, but it can take some digging to get at some of it, and I think few make the effort. People here mostly just want to go on living the lifestyles to which they’ve become accustomed.

2) That said, I agree that in many cases it’s a case of “deliberately ignoring,” as you point out. i.e., yes, it’s often a matter of getting some hint that there’s something which needs to be looked at, something important on which to become more informed. But because it looks threatening, people make the choice to ignore it. It’s fairly easy to do and provides the comforting illusion that all continues as usual. Yep, there have to be lots of people out there who are doing that.

As usual — you pitch some astoundingly shocking & compelling points. It’s obvious from your writing that I no longer :

* Own/manage/finance my condo
* Lease my 2002 Acura RSX
* Add to my USAir frequent flyer account
* Drive Lincoln Town Cars as an Executive
Driver either in the Bay Area nor in “The
City of Roses” — (Portland, OR).
* Jet to Class of ’76 reunions in New Jersey
* Get fabulous massage sessions here in
San Rafael from slut-friendly Asian women
“foh top dollah — me love you BIGTIME!”
* yada-yada-yada …… (a reference to Elaine
from the “Seinfeld” tv show).

You are an intelligent, generous, decent human being, Jim! Mahalo!

Perhaps it’s poetic justice that your Lawrenceville School, NJ Class of ’76 pal & current Mill St. inmate no longer :

* Drives limos. * Owns a tv/stereo.
* Owns/finances a condo.
* Keeps ugrading his USAir frequent flyer
mileage account.
* Leases his 2002 Acura RSX.
* Jets to Jersey to shmooze with L’ville Alum
Chums, jets to Minnesota to visit with his
Sister’s family, yada-yada-yada!
* You pose some astounding things!

Here is one more link:

http://www.energybulletin.net/31329.html

Always,

Steve

go to: http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net

and: http://www.dieoff.org

&: go to youtube – in the search bar type ‘post-oil man.’

finally, at youtube, look for ‘end of suburbia.’

For how long are we going to allow people to feign ignorance? I mean: there can be no doubt that Europe (for one) has experienced strange seasonal weather patterns for plenty of years now; such extreme seasonal weather patterns seem to be “the new normal” by now.

I mean: for how long are we going to have to believe that people in general do not read the newspapers and watch TV? For how long are we going to accept the notion that the majority of adults aren’t properly informed?

I’ve said this before, and I’ll keep saying it until I stop worrying about this: there’s a great deal of difference between actual ignorance and the act of deliberately ignoring.

Let me tell you that anyone who lives here in Europe today – with the extreme weather and climatic stress which is experienced these days – coupled witht the fact that a very large portion of modern Europeans are well educated news consumers by definition – shall have to be mad in order to not understand that something very terrible is happening to this planet. And that it is happening right now. And that the time to start acting is … well: NOW …

I just don’t believe in a general lack of awareness anymore. I just can’t. –

I have to go, but will get back to this as soon as I can.

[Edit] Okay, with a bit more time now, lemme elaborate a bit. My impression is that the majority of citizens (in the US anyway) hear a fair amount about climate change and think something like, “There will be some flooding of coastlines and some people will have to move inland. There will be some droughts, but we can deal with those. A few more forest fires, maybe some increased hurricane activity. I think there might even be some crop troubles, but farming methods are pretty sophisticated, and we have a global transportation system, so we’ll deal with it.”

As for the global ecological crisis as a whole, I’ve searched many times for mainstream news articles to use in my essays, and it takes some digging. There have at times been articles like this…

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6077798.stm

…when a large environmental group comes out with a major report, but otherwise there’s very little. I mean, who reads things like the World Scientists’ Warning to Humanity…

http://www.actionbioscience.org/environment/worldscientists.html

…or the AAAS Atlas of Population and Environment?

http://atlas.aaas.org/

Not many I fear.

I don’t know, I wish I had the funds to commission a major poll on people’s impressions of this stuff. I tend to think awareness levels are very low. If I knew they were actually high, I’d shift my focus entirely to looking at how to motivate people to care, to act, etc.

Unlike you, I believe the vast majority of youths and adults are quite aware of great many of the problems associated with CO2, for example. It is only that people like you and I have yet to come to terms with the apparent fact that humans in general have already reached the conclusion that nothing can actually be done about any of this, and decided for themselves that ignorance indeed is bliss. – At least: this is what I believe is the thing which is happenening here, right now. As the British isles experience heavy rain and floods, while a heat wave is causing trouble in the southern and eastern parts of Europe, with draught and forest fires, for instance … oh, and never mind the strange weather patterns of my native Scandinavia, and also the USA … I hear the American South-West is drying up? …

The point is: We’re dealing with a species which is hell-bent on choosing to ignore all that which should not be ignored. Why? Because doing the opposite will cause great damage to our way of life. – The morale is: “Nature is taking its course, that’s all.”

I suspect that – from now on – we’re going to have to cope with a lot of new End of The World-Sects. – Hi Ya!