Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Don't Hold Your Breath


I paid $2.56 a gallon this morning, the lowest in quite a while, but all logic tells me this sign will be returning to the American landscape sooner than we would like to think. Anyone who is interested in the future of Happy Motoring should visit James Howard Kunstler's blog on a regular basis. He posts new material at least as often as every Monday morning, and sometimes more so.

Although Kunstler has obviously been lumped in with the disciples of Peak Oil by the general public and media, I admire his outlook because he approaches the problem from a more comprehensive prospective than most prognosticators. Rather than quibble over the exact date that oil supplies will be completely expired, Kunstler attempts to warn us of the many ramifications of simply running low on oil. His favorite positive soapbox is describing how we need to rebuild our passenger rail lines. His favorite negative one is how our widespread exurbs will be the death of our current consumer economy. Of course I would love to debate this guy, because I love Texas, suburbia, cars, and the car culture. He loves New York, small towns, and using sidewalks for transportation. Aside from these little nuisances, Kunstler and I are probably a lot alike. We are far left, white, male, nerdy, Baby Boomers of approximately the same age. We are bloggers who have been watching the housing bubble develop and pop since the early part of this millennium. We both know what's the matter with Kansas, but we seem to be powerless to cure it. James Howard Kunstler is one of my favorite writers, even though I have not actually read any of his books.

No comments: