Once you've read some of the things cited on this page, you may get the idea that there's not much hope for us. The truth is, if we keep on going the way we've been going, there isn't much.
However, the future doesn't have to be all bad. Whether or not the government or the corporations do anything to give us a better future, we are still in control of our futures. The page of references about Transition is there to show you that we can create a happy future for ourselves, cheap oil or not. By reading this site, and then deciding to make your yard an edible yard, you have become part of the solution.
Congratulations and welcome!
The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial
Societies
by Richard Heinberg
This book clearly sets down the situation with regard to our
society's addiction to cheap oil and where the way we're living
now is likely to take us.
Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon
World
by Richard Heinberg
This book is about how we can gently and gracefully "power down"
from our oil addiction, and land in a sustainable place, one
that doesn't depend on massive amounts of cheap oil.
The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil, Climate
Change, and Other Converging Catastrophes of the
Twenty-First Century
by James Howard Kunstler
This book expands from just considering "peak oil" to include
climate change, a decreasing water supply, and the degrading
health of the general population to paint a larger picture
of the problems facing us.
The Oil Drum
A clear, open presentation of the facts about our dependence on
cheap oil and the end of its availability.
Life After the Oil Crash
Although this site is (deliberately) provocatively titled,
it contains a wealth of information about the aspects of
our dependence on cheap oil.
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The IPCC won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for "their efforts to
build up and disseminate greater knowledge about man-made
climate change, and to lay the foundations for the measures
that are needed to counteract such change."
This site contains descriptions of, and links to, that group's
reports on the changing of the Earth's climate.
The Ring of Elephants
The "ring of elephants" is my metaphor for the growing list
of challenges that face us - it's as if we're surrounded by
a ring of elephants, all charging straight for us.
The End of Suburbia
This 78-minute video was the first widely-accepted presentation
of the effects of the end of cheap oil on our society and our
economy.
Six Degrees Could Change the World
This 90-minute video by National Geographic shows what would
likely happen if the global climate warms by 1, then 2, ...,
then 6 degrees Centigrade.
An Inconvenient Truth
This 96-minute video is a recording of Al Gore's presentation
on the topic of global climate change.