Peak Oil interview
Interview with Matthew Simmons about when oil will be peaking (or has already). He at least correctly notes the crux: ``Solar and wind are, of course, electricity, so not helpful near-term on the transportation front, which is the most intractable part of the problem.''
The best option is to simply transport less stuff, which was [part of] the basis of the original so-called "organic" movement: to buy stuff locally. Simmons suggests this, too, when asked about hybrid cars:
``We need to think on a grander scale. We have to find, for instance, far more energy-efficient methods of transporting products by rail and ship rather than trucks. We have to liberate the workforce from office-based jobs and let them work in their village, through the modern technology of emails and faxes and video conferencing. We have to address the distribution of food: Much of the food in supermarkets today comes from at least a continent or two away. We need to return to local farms. And we have to attack globalization: As energy prices soar, manufacturing things close to home will begin to make sense again.''