What's on This Site

Purpose: to function as a clearinghouse of useful information, as well as an incubator of provocative and innovative ideas. I have done this by trying to break down some of the complexities associated with the overlapping issues of energy, culture, politics, and economics. I cover a range of political, social, and scientific perspectives here. Although global in focus, there is a slight regional slant toward the western American state of California. The physical layout of this site is basically divided into two vertical halves: the left-hand side, and the right-hand side.

Down the left side (mostly blog posts & links):
- My Blog Posts
- Rationale: Why I designed this site
- Related External Blog and RSS Links: over 50 sources of up-to-the-minute information on politics, economics, and the environment
- My Personal Links
- Selected Global Resource Statistics
- About Me
- The Peak Oil Clock


Down the right side (mostly multimedia & links):
- Revolving Globe
- Videos: Setting the Context on Overall Resource Usage
- Additional Videos/Podcasts: Linking Energy, Politics, and Economics
- Energy-Environment-Finance Links: nearly 100 information sources and tools covering a wide range of approaches and applications
- Yet More Videos: Transition Solutions and Proposed Next Steps


Across the Bottom (information section, mostly reference material on energy consumption):
- Suggested Additional Reading and Viewing
- World Energy Consumption Statistics (year-to-date, updated in near-real-time)
- US Energy Consumption Statistics (year-to-date, updated in near-real-time)
- World Oil Prices (European Brent & American WTI, updated daily)



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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Update: A House on Fire

Esteemed Colleagues / Readers / Friends:

The past several months have been tumultuous, to say the very least.   Since I first started making my on-again and off-again entries in this blog in 2008, we in the United States have seen and experienced much.   This applies to me personally, as well.  I myself have experienced, first hand, some of the devastating impact of The Great Recession.  Well, I am happy to state that I am at least “working” again.  Although things are not perfect yet (and they are also not “full-time” yet!), they are also not nearly as bad as they could be.  We have to take the time to count our blessings, sometimes. 

During the recent tumult, I recommitted myself to going forward with my book project.  I have an editor now.  Soon, the elements of Terracentrism will be coming to a bookstore (or online sales outlet) near you.  The word “Soon” being defined as sometime over the next 12 months, anyway!    In the meantime, we'll be discussing some of those issues here.

The next 12 months are going to be very exciting, challenging, nerve wracking, and somewhat unpredictable.  The entire world economic system is extremely fragile now.  Flashpoints abound. Look at recent events in Europe and Mexico.  Much—but by no means all— of this stems from our over-reliance on one single commodity: petroleum.  That over-reliance stems from the institutionalization and “mafia-ization” of special interests which can see no other way than to continue to make money from the short-term extraction of still more petroleum—regardless of the long-term political, socio-economic, or ecological costs involved.  

The IEA is now cautiously predicting more petroleum price shocks in the near future.  This has the feeling—for me anyway—of watching a tsunami approach, in slow motion.  This is happening under the noses of an American population which has been left—for the most part—historically demented, politically and economically blinded, and scientifically retarded.  I beg your pardon if my harsh words are offensive; however, we are now entering a stage of the crisis where soft-spoken “recommendations” are no longer always appropriate.  Our house is on fire now.  

How did it get this way in this country?  This sorry state of the union has resulted from protracted exposure to decades of so-called educational institutions and media organizations that have left Americans ill-prepared for what is now unfolding all around them.  They have likewise been rather ill-served in terms of how to construe new solutions for many of these challenges; hence the motivation for me launching this site.   This site is about developing new terms, concepts, and ways of talking and understanding what is now happening to us.  This is not just an American problem, of course.  It’s global; and that is part of the reason Americans have a hard time understanding it.  We--on the whole--have not been well-trained in global and integrative thinking.  

In upcoming months, I will be posting draft passages from my new, upcoming book on this site.  I will invite public comment, critique, and suggestions.   The operative concept here: dialog.  There are no real experts for the most part, now.  We have to put our heads together in order to figure out what must be done now.  We all must (re)learn how to work together—in spite of whatever differences we may have, and in spite of who we “think” we are.  The house is on fire now.   There is really no time for pride, or vanity, or arrogance, or bigotry.  The flames won’t care if you are liberal, conservative, libertarian, socialist, or green or whatever.  Any of us may be consumed if we are not careful.  Let us put out the fire first.  But, before we can even begin to do any of those things effectively, we must quickly—very quickly—begin to understand some of the basic warning signs.  Those political-economic warning signs will be the topics of some of my upcoming posts. 

Until then, my dear friends, stay strong and pay close attention.  

Blaine D. Pope


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Why design a site on "Culture and the Political-Economy of Energy Resources?"

Overview: A New Way for a New Era

The overall purpose of this site is to function as a clearinghouse of useful information, as well as an incubator of provocative and innovative ideas. Emphasis will be on the social implications of our heavy reliance on petroleum and related products. All of this is being discussed—either implicitly or explicitly—in the overarching / overlapping context(s) of Peak Oil and Climate Change.

The site contains a collection of useful links, original articles, re-posts from other distinguished organizations, individual writers and bloggers.

I hope that you will find this site both useful and enjoyable (and I welcome your feedback). It’s not easy to make something so serious so fun. This comes about as a result of reviewing a lot of material in the past which, although very informative, could also be quite depressing and downright discouraging at times. So, I’ve decided to take a slightly different path, in bringing you information that you will possibly find important or helpful.

Finally, know that you are not alone in all of this—far from it. These are issues we are all facing, in one way or another. So let’s find our courage and face them together.


Aerial View of Downtown Los Angeles. This city typifies the triumph of the petroleum-based industrial system of the 20th century.

External Blog and RSS Links

Research Gate

Blaine Pope

"In the beginning is energy, all else flows therefrom." -- Cheikh Anta Diop (1974)

"In the beginning is energy, all else flows therefrom." -- Cheikh Anta Diop (1974)

About Me

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A college professor and independent management consultant, focusing on general program design and administration, sustainable development, and the political-economy of energy and the environment. Faculty member at Goddard College (Plainfield, VT). Previously worked at the following academic institutions: Sociology and Anthropology Department, University of Redlands (Redlands, CA); Media and Social Change Program, jointly taught between the School of Psychology at Fielding Graduate University (Santa Barbara, CA) and the University of California at Los Angeles Extension (UCLAx) Program; Research Assistant Professor, Center for Sustainable Cities at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA); Global Studies Program, University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB); MPA Program in Environmental Science and Policy, The Earth Institute and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University (New York, NY); and, Swahili Language Program, Council on African Studies, Yale University (New Haven, CT). -- Additional working experience in emergency relief and development in 10 countries in Africa and the Middle East.

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