who would have thought it?

"The cause of rising prices is clear - growing demand and too little supply to meet it both now and, perhaps of even greater significance, in the future.

"Our goal that Britain becomes a low-carbon economy is now an economic priority as well as an environmental imperative." Source.
Who said this? A clued-in economist, a Peak Oil advocate, Transition?

No, none other than our 'Prime Minister', Gordon Brown. And - this is the hilarious part - he said it in response to the barely believable lazy, sorry - lorry, drivers' 'protests' of yesterday.

So arch enemies of the environment and economic sense have managed to make possibly the worst Prime Minister since Thatcher publicly admit to Peak Oil!!

This is a wonderful world!

(Cynics (deniers) may claim through the comments page that Brown is merely making this all up to avoid losing extra tax revenue (for fitted kitchens no doubt)). (Conspiracy theorists (Daily Mail readers etc) may claim that Brown and his chums in the 'illuminati' and New World Order (big lizards department) are manipulating the price). Post drivel if you dare!

the return of chaos

Oh dear. A few lorry drivers trundle their dinosaurs into our uncool capital, whining about the price of diesel, that they seem to think is expensive when in reality it's dirt cheap and will never be as cheap again. They are bleating for the return of socialism - but is anyone listening? I doubt it.

One of their 'leaders' (I thought socialists thought we were all equal, or is that identical?) was asked on the BBC News where the money would come from to subsidise their dying industry. Should it be schools, hospitals, old people - his barely believable answer was 'from fitted kitchens'. If any of you thought these losers had a case I imagine that was the moment you realised that these people aren't serious about anything, especially their own industry.

Another whine we hear from 'em is that they have to pay VAT on diesel. Yes, but surely they claim it back as an input when they put in their quarterly returns? Or is that too difficult to explain to them?

The fact is they haven't got a clue. They tell us they're poor then waste 'expensive' fuel and lose a day's work driving into London of all places. And every step of the way they were alienating car drivers who were held up by their useless driving. They're now talking about picketting refineries again. So bloody 1970s! More time wasted, more work lost, more decadence. More chaos.

Because chaos is what this is really all about. Your average lorry driver lives a totally uncultured, unadventurous life. They park their mounds of blubber behind a big steering wheel and drive from factory to factory spreading prejudice and delivering the odd bit of cement, wood or extractor fan. They crave excitement - and every now and then they try to stir up trouble and get their latest tattoo on telly.

We don't need chaos. We need people working together to get us through the end of the Oil Age. Climate Change will bring enough excitement for us all. The real challenge is to convert our society WITHOUT chaos - and that message obviously hasn't got through to this unholy alliance of lorry drivers and politicians who love looking backwards rather than forwards.

fresh angle

Oh, the big bad truckers are scaring me by coming to this site and leaving comments! As always they totally miss the point and don't get sledgehammer subtlety and irony, but at least they are fun.

In checking how they found me I discovered this site, which has an interesting approach to Peak Oil - the psychological perspective. Perhaps some of my trucker chums should visit this site after flaming me and they may get clues as to why they are acting so irrationally to the end of cheap oil!

bloody idiots ...

Lorry drivers are to pour into London for what organisers hope will be the largest-ever fuel duty protest in the capital.

Hauliers are angry at soaring fuel prices which have resulted in the average cost of diesel passing far beyond the 120p-a-litre mark.

Led by lorry drivers from Kent, the protest is expected to attract hundreds of hauliers from all around the UK.

The convoy will make its way to central London, parking close to Marble Arch.

Transport for London said the A40 will be closed between White City and Edgware Road, west London, from 10am until 3pm so that demonstrators can park their lorries.

The westbound carriageway of the A40, going out of London, will remain open.

A delegation from the demonstrators will hand a letter to 10 Downing Street demanding the immediate introduction of an essential user rebate which would allow HGV operators to claim some of the fuel duty back.

Mike Presneill, a leading member of Transaction 2007, who is helping to organise the protest, said: "Fuel is rocketing. The Government has the power to act but appears not to be listening. Hundreds of UK transport firms are being driven to the wall. Thousands of UK jobs are being lost.

"Foreign hauliers are entering the UK with cheaper fuel purchased abroad. They contribute nothing to our economy."

Kent-based haulier Peter Knight said: "This is the economics of the mad house. If we are wiped out, the work will be done by foreign hauliers who pay nothing to the UK in tax."

A smaller fuel protest convoy hit the streets of London earlier this year. Source

A few points from the sane side of the argument.

1) These fuckers can't be short of cash despite their bleating because they can afford to lose a day's work and waste thousands on diesel.

2) This fantasy about 'foreign' lorries coming over and stealing OUR work (and women no doubt) is ridiculous. What do they do, drive across the Channel? What about the hundreds/thousands it would cost 'em in ferry fees? And why don't these socialist scum - most of whom appear to be Kent based - go over to France and fill up and do the same thing?? Many UK hauliers have branches in Europe anyway. And, despite what these tattooed Humpty Dumptys claim, fuel in the EU is almost as expensive as it is here in any case.

3) Tax is high in the UK on fuel, but where do they think foreign countries get the tax from if it's not on fuel? Yes, on everything else. If fuel tax fell in the UK it would only be taken somewhere else - and possibly somewhere where we'd not have the choice to reduce consumption (and our own tax).

4) Even the most fanatical road supporter would concede that road haulage is a dying industry. As oil/petrol/diesel runs out ALL medium/long distance freight will have to switch to rail. This is rail's opportunity to grab this trade NOW, by offering good deals to companies needing their freight moved by modern transport. Far from going to foreign companies, freight will continue its switch to rail, though at an accelerated pace. The switch to rail will also be a huge opportunity to forward thinking haulage companies who could set up their own railfreight departments to use their existing contacts and networks to modernise their industry.

5) Poor Peter Knight may think that this is all 'the economics of the madhouse' but he seems keen to want to make it even more so!

6) Roads with fewer/no lorries will be a far pleasanter place for car drivers. Less lorries would equal less demand for diesel (trains use a quarter of the amount for the same weight carried) and the price would rise less than if much was being wasted on inefficient road freight.

7) No car driver should support this 'action'. It is not in our interest to do so.

8) The price of fuel will continue to rocket. Diesel will probably hit £2 a litre by the middle of 2009. Haulage companies need to make hay whilst the sun shines and start organising their companies' switch to rail now, not in 2 or 3 years time.

traitors

'Isn't she lovely ...'

The Scottish government, in a move than further puts England and Wales to shame, is to ban the public display of cigarettes in shops. This total no-brainer move is actually being opposed by - shopkeepers! This callous regard for people's lives, health and coolness is disgusting.

[T]he prospect of legislation to restrict the display of cigarettes met with a frosty reception from Andy Willox, of the Federation of Small Businesses in Scotland.

He said: "Forcing thousands of small independent shops to redesign their premises does not seem like the actions of government committed to sustainable economic growth."

John Drummond, chief executive of the Scottish Grocers' Federation, said the display of tobacco products is "essential" to allow customers to make a choice based on availability, price and brand. Source.

Just fuck off and move to England if you don't like it you pair of hippy wankers.

it takes two to contango

The oil futures markets are in contango. Basically this means that the further into the future a futures contract is for the higher the price. This is the opposite to what normally happens.

No matter what the hippies and socialists say oil probably is now past the peak. World demand is currently 87 million barrels/day, supply is 85 million barrels/day. Nobody seems to be able to make up the difference. 2 million barrels a day is a huge shortfall and with China and India growing phenomenally it can only get worse. Don't believe the crap about recession dampening demand - it doesn't. Petrol seems to be 100% inelastic - just look at all the Facebook groups demanding the price falls (they seem to think the price is fixed by the UK government and some unholy alliance of oil companies) but they get really pissy if you suggest driving less!

Supply and demand are dancing a fascinating dance and nobody can possibly predict where they're heading for - but I suspect $200/barrel by early 2009 and unleaded at £2/litre at around the same time. Wonder what the Facebook hippies will make of that??

what got it all started

I surprise a lot of people. I don't come across as a typical Green - far from it. With my boy racer cars, successful business, right wing politics, regular holidays abroad and taste for the good life I probably appear more like your average hippy denier ...

So how did it all start? Simple. 16 October 1987. If you don't remember that date you weren't there. It was the night of the infamous 'hurricane'. It changed everything.

We were right in the front line, on the Sussex coast. Wind speeds reached 108 mph. There was a lot of damage!

Now I'm not suggesting for one minute that this was a direct result of climate change. But what it was was a wake up call. This was the sort of event we're all going to experience a lot more in the future. Coupled with the end of cheap oil it is a dangerously potent combination - or possibly an opportunity if we follow the Transition model.


Chilling scene on Littlehampton sea front - I loved those pines in the background.


Bad parking.


Howards Way took a direct hit. It was only yards from the sea.


Desirable seafront properties.

garden progress

Overview.

Railway track and truck.


The apple tree!


It's starting to look a bit better and taking shape! Hopefully by the end of the summer we'll be producing some of our own food. If we can do it anyone can!

different colours, different shades ...

We had a visit from the local Green party rep yesterday evening. It was an odd experience, a bit like going through a timewarp. I explained that our main thrust now is Transition and that as far as we're concerned the Green Party exists merely to get people into power so it will make our job easier. I'm not sure he totally got it!

I also made my favourite point that environmentalists are ridiculously out of touch. I brought up the nonsense that Greenpeace recently came up with, that air travel will account for as much CO2 in 2050 as from all forms of transport now. This is of course total drivel - there won't be any civilian air travel by 2050, so why even bring it up? His amazing response was 'well, that's a matter of opinion.' No it's fucking not, it's a matter of geology! Sometimes the greens come across as as thick as the Daily Mail reader. Why do we even bother?

a tale of two cities

Build-a-Bear, Bristol



St Nicholas Market, Bristol

We did the trip round Bristol today, first visiting the Mall, then going down to the market. What a contrast! The Mall is all pointless chain shops struggling to sell stuff that nobody needs and even less can afford. The market is buzzing with local people buying local produce, but also sampling the various delights from many of the cultures that make Bristol such an exciting place. From the blandness of the Mall (which is being developed even further right now) with its escalators and chain shops, cash points and bland food outlets to the market is less than half a mile, but it's like going forward 50 years in time. Transition Bristol will be like the market all over. Bustling local businesses selling food and goods produced within ten miles of the city, probably using cash that is only useable in the immediate area. People coming in by foot, bike and tram and taking it easy.

I wonder how the hippies live like they do, flashing their credit cards, buying cheap tat, rushing around, driving. We'll look back on these days in twenty years with a mixture of incredulity and intense amusement!