I was in New York in the 30’s. I had a box seat at the depression. I can assure you it was a very educational experience. We shut the country down because of monetary reasons. We had manpower and abundant raw materials. Yet we shut the country down. We’re doing the same kind of thing now but with a different material outlook. We are not in the position we were in 1929–30 with regard to the future. Then the physical system was ready to roll. This time it’s not. We are in a crisis in the evolution of human society. It’s unique to both human and geologic history. It has never happened before and it can’t possibly happen again. You can only use oil once. You can only use metals once. Soon all the oil is going to be burned and all the metals mined and scattered.

M. King Hubbert, 1983

Initially it will be denied. There will be much lying and obfuscation. Then prices will rise and demand will fall. The rich will outbid the poor for available supplies. The system will initially appear to rebalance. The dash for gas will become more frenzied. People will realize nuclear power stations take up to ten years to build. People will also realize wind, waves, solar and other renewables are all pretty marginal and take a lot of energy to construct. There will be a dash for more fuel-efficient vehicles and equipment. The poor will not be able to afford the investment or the fuel. Exploration and exploitation of oil and gas will become completely frenzied. More and more countries will decide to reserve oil and later gas supplies for their own people. Air quality will be ignored as coal production and consumption expand once more. Once the decline really gets under way, liquids production will fall relentlessly by five percent per year. Energy prices will rise remorselessly. Inflation will become endemic. Resource conflicts will break out.

Colin Campbell, March 2002

Albert's 2009 Dates:

Tennessee Lawn and Garden Show (Nashville Fairgrounds March 5-8, 2009);
Permaculture Design Course (Punta Gorda, Belize, March 20-April 1, 2009);
Building Biology Course, (The Farm, TN, May 15-19, 2009);
Heartwood Forest Council (Camp Blanton KY, May 29-31, 2009);
Transition Lewis Unleasing (Hohenwald and The Farm, TN, Jun 6-7, 2009);
Baird Hall Lecture, Smithsonian Museum of Nat. Hist (Washington DC, Jun 26, 2009);
Brazil Tour (Starting in Manaus,Jul 11-25, 2009);
North American Biochar Conference (Denver CO, Aug 10-12, 2009);
Eco-Expo 2009 (Boulder CO, Aug 22, 2009);
Permaculture Design Course (Cloughjordan, Ireland, Aug 23-31, 2009);
Carbon Farming Course (The Farm, TN, Sep 1-16, 2009);
Financial Permaculture Course (Hohenwald, TN, Sep 22-26, 2009);
10th Continental Bioregional Congress (The Farm, TN Oct 3-22, 2009);
Sustainable Michigan (Crystal Mountain MI, Nov 12-15, 2009);
COP 15: UN Climate Summit (Copenhagen, Denmark Nov 28-Dec 11, 2009)

photo for Vanity Fair by Gasper Tringale

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