The DC Petrocollapse Conference - May 6th

[AnnieBW]

The DC Petrocollapse Conference -- www.petrocollapse.org

Culture Change and Sustainable Post-Petroleum Living

*************************

Sponsored by Culture Change -- http://culturechange.org --
the May 6th DC Petrocollapse Conference must not be missed!

You are invited to attend!
All Souls Unitarian Church
16th and Harvard Streets, NW, Washington D.C.
Columbia Heights Metro Station
Saturday, May 6, 2006 9 am - 7 pm

Most independent oil experts agree that the peak in global oil extraction is
occurring now, and global supplies of oil will begin to dwindle in the
imminent future, due to the geological exhaustion of the world's biggest oil
fields. ( for factual background -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil )

The New York Times calls Peak Oil "almost certainly correct." Fortune
Magazine says, "An economic tsunami is about to hit the global economy as
the world runs out of oil." As oil prices soar and supplies of crude oil and
refined petroleum products strain to keep up with demand, as global warming
fuels out-of-control hurricanes that wreak havoc on oil production
infrastructure as well as upon devastated populations, the critical issue of
Peak Oil is finally becoming acknowledged in the mainstream news.

But the complete story is still suppressed, misunderstandings abound, and
the public remains in the dark about the vast array of consequences due to
hit from this looming "permanent energy crisis." The sudden effects of
perpetual oil shortage are likely to strike within the next three years. Are
we prepared? Sponsored by Culture Change, the DC PetroCollapse Conference
will present the facts behind the hype about Peak Oil, explore the root
factors of our present "oil-addicted" condition, and envision the strategies
that we need to bypass unhelpful institutional barriers and achieve
post-Peak Oil economic sustainability.

Speakers at the DC Petrocollapse Conference will include the most widely
read peak-oil author, Richard Heinberg. Experts on peak oil, small-scale
agriculture and alternative energy will discuss "petrocollapse," the
imminent failure of the petroleum infrastructure to continue to provide the
myriad goods and services that our consumer economy has grown accustomed to.
Multimedia presentations and multiple films will demonstrate solutions to
the audience.

At The Petrocollapse Conference we will ask

* What are we facing now as the economy prepares to hit the wall
known as resource limits? Will growth suddenly implode?
* What will be the effects of Peak Oil (a geological phenomenon) and
petrocollapse (an economic and social phenomenon) on food supply and
other services we depend on?
* What other mitigation strategies are possible?
* What is the role of the market in determining how severe the
effect of shortage stemming from geological depletion will be ?
* Upon upheaval, deprivation, and a restructuring of social relations
in a "new" local economics system, will we choose to create a
sustainable culture?

DC PETROCOLLAPSE CONFERENCE SPEAKERS WILL INCLUDE:
*Albert Bates Global Ecovillage Network; author
*Diana Leafe Christian Communities Magazine
*John Darnell, Ph.D Energy advisor
*Richard Heinberg Author, The Party's Over and Powerdown
*Michael Kane From the Wilderness publications
*Jan Lundberg Oil industry analyst; http://culturechange.org
*Jenna Orkin Moderator; World Trade Center Environmental Org.
*Joel Salatin Organic Agriculturalist, http://polyfacefarms.com
*Mark Robinowitz http://Oilempire.us; <http://oilempire.us/;> author,
Permatopia
*David Room Post Carbon Institute; Global Public Media

YOU ARE INVITED TO ATTEND!

Please register online via PayPal at http://petrocollapse.org/register.html

The registration cost of $100 will pay for lunch and attendance at a
special noontime press conference.

We have scholarships, work exchange arrangements, and "sliding scale"
discounts available for students, activists, and those who can't afford
the $100 registration cost. Send us an email with the details of your
situation, and/or what time or energy you may have for volunteer activity
for the conference. Send to [e-mail]

No one will be turned away at the door for lack of funds, so long as space
is available. However, seats are filling fast, so you are encouraged to
register ASAP!

Please contact the registration coordinator -- Ethan Genauer --
if you have any problems registering, or for more details,
by email at : [e-mail]

For more information, see http://petrocollapse.org and
the DC PetroCollapse Conference press release below

[Ezlivin]

1. Solution: Nuclear powered ethanol generator

Hey, I built a realistic, life-sized runway in my front yard, how come no jets with cargo have landed yet?

Has anyone else noticed that stories about ethanol are starting to appear more frequently?

Do I ask a hell of a lot of questions?

:)

[newswolf56]

2. No matter what is done, it is too little too late. Three grim realities:

(1)-The increasing worthlessness of the dollar -- the real cause of skyrocketing real estate prices -- combines with outsourcing (uncontrollable manufacturing and material costs) to make construction of adequate public transport impossible: "adequate" meaning powered by electricity and running on rails. This means the United States is forever saddled with a slow, increasingly expensive, inherently herky-jerky bus system -- the hallmark of the Third World, and typical of the Third World socioeconomic status to which the U.S. is being reduced.

(2)-To prepare for the future, the corporate ruling class has already begun restructuring the economy and the government accordingly: a concentration of wealth unprecedented in human history; outsourcing of the major means of production to nations where classically Nazi methods can be more readily employed to suppress proletarian activism; restructuring the government (the ultimate purpose of the Bush Administration) to facilitate fascist modes of governance; imposition of theocracy (whether Christian or Islamic) as the ultimate mechanism of social control. Short of intervention from abroad, there is no way to stop or even slow these developments.

(3)-Regardless of how much discussion occurs, the prohibition against recognizing that the fault lies entirely with capitalism itself -- that capitalism is merely a rational for the elevation of infinite greed into ultimate virtue and is therefore as intrinsically evil as any other form of murder and exploitation -- is an ultimate taboo that will blind the participants to recognition of how the historical truth of class-struggle and the implications thereof both explain the present crisis and reveal the only possible solution, a blindness-by-shibboleth that thereby guarantees the conference will accomplish nothing of value.

[Dogmudgeon]

3. I'd like to have the Prozac concession stand at that convention!

It's hard enough for me to spend an hour reading through this forum. One-third of Matt Savinar's book brought me so close to suicide I had to listen to an Ashlee Simpson album.

--p!

[kitkatrose]

4. I would think listening to an Ashlee Simpson album

would make you more suicidal. :shrug: