[Culturechat] What does Jim Kunstler know?

Wed, 29 Dec 2004 19:55:23 -0500

--=====================_811713742==.ALT
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

This is NOT what I said. Bottom line, what I said is that, when necessary, 
we will rise to the challenge. It may be later than either you or I would 
like, but it will happen. I have too much faith in our technical and 
engineering abilities. Gasoline replaced steam and some combination of 
existing and to-be-invented technologies will replace gasoline. This isn't 
blind faith. It will become necessity and it's based upon several hundred 
years of American enterprise rising to the occasion. There will be no sole 
answer and it will include conservation (but this only puts off the day of 
reckoning), but it will happen.

If you read my previous posts on this issue you would know that I am not 
blind to the issue but quite well aware of it. I also applaud efforts at 
further awareness. But to then take the leap that anyone that likes SUVs 
(which I also hate) and suburbia is a nincompoop and inferior to those 
enlightened Europeans, as Kunstler has, isn't the way to do it. How about 
blaming some of the Texan oilmen and Detroit (and Congress) for pushing oil 
at us in the first place, for the humongous tax breaks they lobbied for and 
largely got over the decades to find and push even more at us, and for 
lobbying against the development of alternatives. They offered the consumer 
the candy and to no one's surprise the consumers ate it.

Having spent so many years in the industry, I know you guys are more expert 
at the problem and probably have a better handle on the solutions, but 
blaming the consumer per se may not be the wisest course. Until prices rise 
to the point where they really hurt the pocketbook people will consider to 
consume. The European experience would tend to suggest that pump prices 
would have to at least quadruple before we reach that point, in spite of 
all the bitching about $2 pump prices. Instead, the answer may lay in 
Congress somehow finding the courage to perhaps tax gas to that point and 
use the proceeds to fund real alternatives and remove our strategic 
reliance on oil. However, having watched lobbyists for some 20 years, I 
wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this. Consumers don't go to fund 
raisers. Oilmen and GM execs do ("Of course you'll want to buy a table"). 
What is more likely is that in spite of them entrepreneurs, forever the 
backbone of American industry, will step in with solutions once prices 
require one. Remember, a few years ago Google didn't even exist.

Jerry

At 06:16 PM 12/29/2004, WesTexas@aol.com wrote:
Having said that, I have found that Jerry's response is fairly 
typical.  People don't want to hear that the party is ending, but the 
suburban way of life in America is soon going to become 
unsustainable--whether we like monstrous SUV's, gargantuan low density 
suburban homes and Wal-Marts or not.

--=====================_811713742==.ALT
Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<html>
<body>
This is NOT what I said. Bottom line, what I said is that, when
necessary, we will rise to the challenge. It may be later than either you
or I would like, but it will happen. I have too much faith in our
technical and engineering abilities. Gasoline replaced steam and some
combination of existing and to-be-invented technologies will replace
gasoline. This isn't blind faith. It will become necessity and it's based
upon several hundred years of American enterprise rising to the occasion.
There will be no sole answer and it will include conservation (but this
only puts off the day of reckoning), but it will happen. 
If you read my previous posts on this issue you would know that I am not
blind to the issue but quite well aware of it. I also applaud efforts at
further awareness. But to then take the leap that anyone that likes SUVs
(which I also hate) and suburbia is a nincompoop and inferior to those
enlightened Europeans, as Kunstler has, isn't the way to do it. How about
blaming some of the Texan oilmen and Detroit (and Congress) for pushing
oil at us in the first place, for the humongous tax breaks they lobbied
for and largely got over the decades to find and push even more at us,
and for lobbying against the development of alternatives. They offered
the consumer the candy and to no one's surprise the consumers ate
it. 
Having spent so many years in the industry, I know you guys are more
expert at the problem and probably have a better handle on the solutions,
but blaming the consumer per se may not be the wisest course. Until
prices rise to the point where they really hurt the pocketbook people
will consider to consume. The European experience would tend to suggest
that pump prices would have to at least quadruple before we reach that
point, in spite of all the bitching about $2 pump prices. Instead, the
answer may lay in Congress somehow finding the courage to perhaps tax gas
to that point and use the proceeds to fund real alternatives and remove
our strategic reliance on oil. However, having watched lobbyists for some
20 years, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for this. Consumers don't go
to fund raisers. Oilmen and GM execs do (&quot;Of course you'll want to
buy a table&quot;). What is more likely is that in spite of them
entrepreneurs, forever the backbone of American industry, will step in
with solutions once prices require one. Remember, a few years ago Google
didn't even exist. 
Jerry 
At 06:16 PM 12/29/2004, WesTexas@aol.com wrote: 
Having said that, I have found that Jerry's
response is fairly typical.&nbsp; People don't want to hear that the
party is ending, but the suburban way of life in America is soon going to
become unsustainable--whether we like monstrous SUV's, gargantuan low
density suburban homes and Wal-Marts or not.&nbsp; 
</body>
 
</html>

--=====================_811713742==.ALT--