The Road Ahead / Paul Metz

From: "Paul Metz"

Bryan,
In addition to the introduction of Land Value Taxation instead of existing counterproductive taxes on property, I believe that a broad tax reform is a- if not THE - key instrument to achieve a sustainable, i.e. fair for all the world's citizens and ecologically future-proof. That reform can - and should for political acceptance - be revenue neutral and give price incentives that benefit 'goods' and punish 'bads'.One consequence of this concept I have started to promote recently: the recognition that all world's citizens have equal right to emit greenhouse gases. The new foundation B4FET - Business for Fair Emission Trade - will try to educate the negotiators of the Kyoto Protocol and help establish an allocation of emission rights mechanism that is fair and, as a consequence, attractive for the citizens of all countries (not necessarily for the ruling elites). Key outcome would be that each citizen - as a shareholderof Earth's Global Commons - has an annual coupon, which can be sold and generates a "microdividend". This combines climate protection with fair trade and poverty alleviation, also within rich countries - or, as Dave names it, 'redistribution of wealth'. In my experience 'fair trade' is much less unwelcome in the mainstream than 'redistribution of .... anything'.I hope to inform on B4FET soon; we are now acquiring Dutch sponsors first. Now my weekend is over, I have some clients waiting and look forward to rejoin you next week. Paul Metz Sent: maandag 30 januari 2006 21:50

To: 'Paul Metz'
Subject Oil

Paul
I see we agree on the kind of measures needed but I'm not sure about implementation and political will. I'm all ears on any suggestions about getting the global community to co-operate in time. Recently I watched the Indian Minister for the Environment say that India wanted to do its share of polluting and wasting. We in the West have been very hypocritical with our demands and we show little sign of changing. China feels the same way, not to mention the list of developing countries. I agree we are on our own.

Cheers
Bryan

From: Paul Metz
Sent: Tuesday, 31 January 2006 11:41 a.m.
To: 'Bryan Pepperell'
Subject: Environment and Oil

Bryan,
It is even worse: it is in our self interest to make the growth of India, China, etc sustainable. And our leaders do not realize that, they let 'unsustainable outsourcing' happen and thus destroy the planet faster than ever before.

Yes, good governance is the scarcest resource on Earth, precautionary approaches are illusions as a result. But we should not stop promoting and practising them ....

Paul

To: Paul Metz
The Netherlands
Subject Oil

By now the world is using one thousand barrels of oil a second. Your own examples show that demand can only increase with outsourcing.
We can only continue to speak out about this (coming?) crisis. It appears to be moving into a terminal stage.
Perhaps other people in the political strata will begin to speak up. I live in hope.

Cheers
Bryan Pepperell
Wellington
New Zealand

Peak Oil on Nine to Noon / Kevin Moore responds

Anita
Once again I wish to thank you for the excellent work you did on the situation of oil supply in New Zealand. I'm sure you will be interested to know that over two years ago I visited the Greater London Council and met the Vice Chair of London Transport, Dave Wetzel. We are now good friends. I introduced Dave to the issue of Peak Oil from the http://www.oilcrash.com/ perspective with which I have been associated with for about four years.

Dave Wetzel introduced me to the idea Land Value Tax and I have his link on my Web along with http://www.oilcrash.com/. Dave now sends regular updates to us in New Zealand from the London perspective. They are a little slow to catch on but many people in the UK are becoming better informed .

The future is not looking good once you become informed but here in New Zealand it may even be worse because of our failure to provide adequate public transport and our heavy reliance on fertilizer.

We have established links with many other countries and are highly disturbed at how unwilling political leaders are to discuss the issue of Peak Oil. I highly recommend a viewing of the DVD "Peakoil Imposed by Nature". Obviously the implications of an oilcrash are quite horrific and after careful consideration of all the facts we see no simple solutions. We are informed and have an in-depth understanding of what science cannot do. As I have said many times before, we are a monolithic fuel based culture. Without oil the party is over.

As an aside I wonder if you remember Dick Ryan from the Commission for the Future. He was so right in his predictions. There will also be a major political convulsion once the public realises how much they have been deceived about the facts that they have probably suspected. Social constructions of reality have been powerful and all pervading in the area of energy management. The message of Peak Oil is not new but the power of vested interests has actively undermined it.

We believe that we must now have a continued public discussion about the future direction of this beautiful country which has already been badly plundered by corporate raiders and unfettered commercial greed. The whole fashionable notion of sustainable development is a oxymoron and to survive we need a great leap backwards.

Cheers

Bryan Pepperell
Wellington City Councillor
cc Kevin Moore

For your blog Bryan
We [in the peak oil aware community] keep talking about the tsunami of Peak Oil being on the horizon but what we are currently seeing in more like sitting on a beach and watching the tide come in and demolish sandcastles: a wave moves up the beach, then recedes. the next wave may not go quite as far, but we can be certain that one of the subsequent waves will reach a little further. Some children frantically build barriers to protect their sandcastles. Others build new sandcastles further up the beach. It never occurs to children to consult tide tables, because they are oblivious that such things exist. It is rather similar with National Radio; it would never occur to them to consult someone who actually knows what is going on in the world; National Radio only knows about playing in the sand. That is why I never bother to listen to Morning Report these days.

We should note that oil prices have dropped a little from the recent high of $68/barrel, but can be certain that there will be less oil available tomorrow than today and more people wanting it, so some time soon the price of oil will rise again, petrol will rise again, and National Radio will fail to deliver reality to its listeners once again. Of course representatives of the AA will squawk like parrots and cry: "Unfair." That is the system.
Kevin

No Absolutes ?

You heard it on Nine to Noon




Dear Anita

I listened to some discussion on your radio programme today by a social commentator and caught a line about ethical / moral absolutes not existing.

I have read philosophy most of my life, starting at the age of 13 and I'm now middle aged. I have to say I was somewhat provoked by the commentator. I don't think such statements should go unchallenged. As far back as Plato it was argued that absolutes must exist otherwise particulars are meaningless. Plato and his school argued that without absolutes we cannot move. It can be argued he was right in every sense and it is equally the case with the theory of knowledge ( Epistemology is the philosophical term).
Your commentator said he had some exposure to existentialism as if this was the end of the argument. Not so as Sartre (see picture) is quoted as saying that. "Any finite point without an infinite reference point is meaningless and absurd". If there are no absolutes it cannot be said in a meaningful way that they do not exist, as every thesis has an anti-thesis in logic.

Cheers
Bryan Pepperell

You heard an edited version on Morning Report

To: 'morningreport@radionz.co.nz

Fuel price report too middle of the road
We listened carefully to your reporting of fuel price rises and those you talked to and concluded that it was too middle of the road. Balanced reporting is required on this most serious issue. Even CNN is talking about oil reserves dwindling and who will get what is left. I've got news for you and the public. When the bidding war starts we won't be in the running.


Japanese transport option

We need a paradigm shift and that should have been discussed for a balanced picture. We are fossil fuel addicted and need to be weaned off oil. Why you might ask? The Association of Scientists For Peak Oil has been warning us for years that oil is about to peak. Top enery investment banker Matt Simmons and others tell us oil demand is a runaway train. Demand is outstripping supply.

We are a monolithic fuel based culture and the party is over for us. We suggest that people get used to taking the bicycle or walking to the dairy instead of driving the hatchback. And as I think about it, plastic will also be in short supply along with hundreds of other bi-products. Time to get serious people.

Cheers

Bryan Pepperell

Auckland's Mr Peak Oil

Recently I wrote to Auckland's most articulate spokesperson for Peak Oil, Kevin Moore. Here is my letter and his reply.

Understand this?
Oil is heading to $70.00 a barrel and policy makers just don't want to know. It's really difficult when your message is so dark and they don't know what to do and there is no political leadership from the top. This is a major challenge to vested interests, including the humble guy who sweeps the street. Like I said, as the song goes ... "See the Devil him driving the school bus and heading to victory". We must ridicule our leaders and shame them into taking a position. Some will lose their seats as a consequence as telling the truth and listening to it is equally unpalatable!
Bryan Pepperell

Well Bryan, the solutions are so simple one of my [temporary] students, a 13 year-old girl from Korea came up with them. But as we all know, nothing that is contrary to the more growth, more energy consumption, more covering the nation in concrete and asphalt agenda will be done.....well not until the system falls over (next month? the month after that?....quick, pass me another pit prop before the roof caves in!!!).

Yes, Nymex at $68.35 and the dollar below $0.68 is surely making a few people start to sweat. And the plunge of the Dow, wiping out all the gains of 2005 must be hurting someone somewhere. The fun will start when they start shitting bricks. I wonder who will run first, who will run fastest? Winnie has a good track record for breaking rank. Losing seats? I'm looking forward to them losing their pants, watching helplessly as their business rorts go down the drain.

Oh sorry, I forgot, it's only a temporary perturbation to the system. Once we've caught Bin Laden, put Iran on the right path and taught those nasty insurgents in Nigeria a lesson, all will be fine and oil will be back to $20-25. MED says so, so it must be true.

I've just thought of something: we haven't had the pledge from the Saudi oil minister to increase production and drive down prices this time round. Someone had better remind him he has neglected his duty.

Kevin

Tui and bordellos

From the time we moved into our Mornington property we started to plant native trees, shrubs and grasses. They are now mature and provide an excellent kitchen for native birds. The Tui, who is often seen and heard around our bush clad section, comes year after year for the flax and Kowhai. Recently, property developers destroyed a protected Kowhai in Tory Street, leaving one less place in the city for our beautiful Tui. The highest penalty is a two hundred thousand dollar fine. Such a destructive action should be given the maximum penalty, leaving no doubt about the places of our natural heritage. Those responsible for this carnage have proudly announced their latest business venture, Wellington's most expensive brothel. This is a tawdry exchange for our heritage Kowhai and our first citizens.

Robert Atack - The man behind www.oilcrash.com

Robert Atack first came into my life when I noticed his website sign www.oilcrash.com attached to a street post. It was easy enough to remember. I was intrigued with what the web was saying and decided that I wanted engage in the debate. I discovered the man behind this web-site was a builder with a ferocious appetite for sharing his knowledge about Peak Oil, the energy issue.

It took some time for us to meet in person as we both used e-mail to good effect. Then there was a telephone conversation that seemed quite adequate. Finally a meeting took place but it seemed totally un-necessary. With his number 1 haircut and flashing eyes, I could see why his reputation had proceeded him. Today he has grown his hair and has a softer look which is more in keeping with his personality. Robert loves animals (while he is at my place he mentions he must return to give his cat an injection of insulin) and is kind to children but has none of his own (he changed his second name by deed poll to " Thank you for not breeding", and he was quick to show me his drivers license when we first met).

Robert has by his own admission trod the road less travelled and has had his share of confrontations with individuals and groups holding views contrary to his strongly held views about the future of this planet without the abundance of cheap oil. I believe that he is one of the few people able to give an open and honest picture of what we face with the coming energy crisis. He has spent a large amount of his own money and time attempting to educate people about this extremely important issue.

Can we save ourselves?

I was born into this culture with all its short comings but I can think of worse places. In some ways we get the culture we deserve but the opposite is also true. We have always felt threatened by forces bigger than us. Cain said he had become a fugitive and a wanderer upon the face of the earth and protested that his punishment had become too great. He was alienated from his creator, or so the story goes. Perhaps there is a truth here. Could it be that our fundamental problem is that we have become exceedingly idolatrous. I mean our ultimate concern appears to be consumerism and oil has fed it. Sartre said... "We are so shaped by our past choices and decisions that in the end we checkmate ourselves into an inescapable cubicle of thought and action", so we are prisoners. We also appear to want to be part of communities or belong to a church. Once you join a group things get complicated. I guess we need to write some new hymns. Then we have to convince or evangelize to the flock that we should all sing the same hymn..." I write the songs that make the world go round, I write the songs" ... I guess we should tell it like it is but what happens to those who do that. The story of Christmas comes back into focus with its ultimate conclusion being a crucifixion and the the claim of a redemptive return to save us from our stupidity. Hey guys, I went to the optometrist the other day and he said he didn't think much of the eye as a design. I couldn't stop myself so I said would he like to try and make one starting from scratch. I said that I wasn't talking about a camera connected to a computer just in case he was. There was a long silence and we started to talk about the metaphysical component and how the brain played a significant role in the construction of what we see. The brain certainly not being a computer and nothing like one. We are so confidently ignorant. Perhaps we do need saving from ourselves.

JAN 2006-Save Te Raekaihau Point battle Resumes

Battle lines are being drawn to save the Point as the new year begins, with a meeting of angry residents today at Te Raekaihua Point. Bruce Stewart was joined by Cr Bryan Pepperell and other concerned residents, who believe the development to be both an assault on the environment and the public purse, with the $7 million interest free loan being offered with ratepayer money. The meeting was also attended by Maori television reporters.

Cheers
Bryan Pepperell

The old Slaughter House Backpacker at Hector

Not far from Granity at a place called Hector there is one of New Zealand's most unusual backpacker hostels owned and operated by a colourful character called David Bridger. The hostel is situated on the site of the old slaughter house. An honest ten minute walk up into the bush by a steep path, by anyone's description, is well worth the effort. The hostel is nestled in amongst the bush and has breath taking views of the coast from south to north and far out to sea. David knows when to engage with people so we soon struck up a converstaion that was from the heart. This is the best kept secret in New Zealand and it wouldn't surprise me if it's number 1 on the list of the most popular backpackers for overseas travellers, though maybe yet to be discovered by Kiwis. This is definitely mountain biker's country and should be your next destination.
Check it out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Peak Oil Art No Henry Moore

Just out of Reefton I came across this rather interesting statement. Two Jaguars had been up ended and buried in the ground. I couldn't help thinking that the person behind this act had possibly not realized the potential for its significance. To me it was such a powerful statement about the coming oilcrash. This was no Henry Moore but here was art for 2006.