[Dialogue] ENERGY DEPLETION

Mon Jan 29 18:08:10 EST 2007

We are showing "The End of Suburbia" this Friday as part of the  
Friday Film night for the community at our church, and have used Peak  
Oil as well.  Are there other DVD's out there that would be useful in  
educating a community that is pretty up to date as it is?

We're also looking for one on Children's Health in the U.S.,  
especially as it regards Childrens' Health Insurance Program (CHIP).   
We're trying to push the Texas Legislature to fully fund CHIP in  
Texas (it is last currently).

You can email me off list unless you think all would appreciate the  
info.

George Holcombe
14900 Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Home: 512/252-2756
Mobile 512/294-5952
geowanda at earthlink.net

On Jan 29, 2007, at 11:28 AM, Karl Hess wrote:

> Pretty much the whole corn economy is a fraud. You can be sure  
> Archer Daniels Midland is behind it.  The recent book on this is   
> The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael  
> Pollan.  There was an interview with him on NPR not that long ago.   
> The book is copyrighted 2006.
>
> The mainstream media will not cover this, certainly not the Lehrer  
> New Hour.
>
> Karl
>
>> Read the latest articles in New York Times, Scientific American,  
>> etc. about ethanol. It is definitely not the answer. Even if all  
>> the corn in the U.S. is used it would never get beyond 10 to 12%  
>> of the need. Besides it will cost more in the long run than  
>> gasoline and will also pollute the air.  Since politicians love  
>> it, you know something's wrong.  We need less consumption.
>>
>> bil;
>> On Jan 29, 2007, at 10:59 AM, opossum2 at att.net wrote:
>>
>>> David,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I haven't been able to come up with anything on these folks  
>>> either.  They are obviously very deep under the radar, which  
>>> makes me suspicious.  Ethanol is only a tiny piece of the  
>>> "solution" to our energy problems, if that.  This has been  
>>> expounded on in all of the media to need recapitulation here.   
>>> The most positive take I have on it is that at least now  
>>> politicians can get rid of the (literally) poisonous tobacco  
>>> subsidy and still court the agricultural vote by putting the  
>>> funds into ethanol subsidy legislation.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Steve Rhea
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Sr. Geophysicist, Seismic Micro-Technology
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Houston, Tx.
>>>> -------------- Original message from David & Lin Zahrt  
>>>> <chbnb at netins.net>: --------------
>>>>
>>>> I have watched the "ethanol craze" build in Iowa. It is driven  
>>>> by the universal awareness that we are participating globally in  
>>>> Energy Depletion. I see it as a 'quick fix' being exploited by  
>>>> agribusiness and the oil industry.
>>>>
>>>> Ethanol will be a by-product of the corn raised in Iowa. Aside  
>>>> from some of the left over by-products it is a wash--we use up  
>>>> as much energy as we produce, and we use up (as in exhaust) an  
>>>> unbelievable and consistently ignored amount of water and soil  
>>>> resources . It is an attempt to use soil and water to turn  
>>>> petroleum into energy.
>>>>
>>>> The local agriculturalist believes it will help him/her because  
>>>> it will raise the price of a bushel of corn. At the moment the  
>>>> price of corn is the recipient of a price support program which  
>>>> means that it is sold for less than it costs to produce, the  
>>>> balance of which is made up by government subsidy. That, of  
>>>> course, allows Cargill and Archer, Daniels, Midland to purchase  
>>>> corn for less than it costs to produce so they can manufacture  
>>>> corn syrup and corn oil, ingredients that have been coveted by  
>>>> the fast food industry, and which have made a major contribution  
>>>> to the epidemic of obesity in the US.
>>>>
>>>> I would like to believe that I am looking at the real trends  
>>>> rather than being consumed by pessimism--that I am willing to  
>>>> take the 'blinders' off and face the real future we, as a  
>>>> society, are in the process creating. I am constantly on the  
>>>> lookout for individuals, groups, movements, with whom I could  
>>>> collaborate to set a new trend in motion. I belong to Practical  
>>>> Farmers of Iowa--sustainable agriculture; Iowa Prairie Network-- 
>>>> protecting and restoring natural habitat; NW Iowa Sierra Club  
>>>> Group; Center for(If you know of any please inform me)
>>>>
>>>> I recently received a mailing (always suspicious of unsolicited  
>>>> mailings and phone calls) from a group that calls themselves the  
>>>> International Energy Depletion Institute (IEDI), located in  
>>>> Tennessee. I would scan the mailing but I am under the  
>>>> impression that it would have to come as an attachment and these  
>>>> list-serves don't accept attachments. Has anyone else received  
>>>> such a mailing?
>>>>
>>>> In an attempt to find out more about the IEDI I went to the  
>>>> internet. Google has nothing in the first 10. Yahoo doesn't  
>>>> either. Does anyone have information on the background of IEDI?
>>>>
>>>> The mailing was 6-8.5x11 pages. This is the beginning of one of  
>>>> the pages.
>>>> Sample from one of the pages
>>>>
>>>> "OIL IS FOOD
>>>> 6 BILLION HUMAN BEINGS SIMPLY CANNOT SURVIVE ON THIS PLANET  
>>>> WITHOUT OIL. IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE NATURAL CARRING CAPACITY  
>>>> OF THE EARTH IS PROBABLY SOMEWHERE BETWEEN ONE & TWO BILLION  
>>>> PEOPLE AT BEST.
>>>>
>>>> This sobering assessment does not, in our opinion, take into  
>>>> consideration the environmental degradation of the Industrial  
>>>> Age or the impact of future Global Warming. Fossil Fuels have  
>>>> magically turned the planets depleted top soils into abundant  
>>>> cropland. Just take a look at the graph below. The evidence is  
>>>> undisputable!! OIL IS FOOD!..."
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I'm asking for feedback because I think the IEDI is on to  
>>>> something important. I am suspicious of unsolicited mass  
>>>> mailings and the fact that I find no background info on the  
>>>> internet.
>>>>
>>>> David Zahrt
>>>> <chbnb at netins.net>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> From: David & Lin Zahrt <chbnb at netins.net>
>>> Date: January 29, 2007 9:18:07 AM EST
>>> To: Order Ecumenical <OE at wedgeblade.net>, Dialogue ICA  
>>> <Dialogue at wedgeblade.net>
>>> Subject: [Dialogue] ENERGY DEPLETION
>>>
>>>
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