More prisons, tough measures for disruptive schoolkids and no down grading of cannabis – that was the manifesto of one of the Tory leadership hopefulls. That’ll win the next election! It made BBC news’ top spot too.
If you want the news that should be at the top of the agenda for the next twenty years I offer you two items that pretty much dwarf the trivial distraction currently presented as news.
Peak Oil is the point when world oil production reaches it’s maximum and begins to decline. This may happen before the end of the decade. It heralds the end of cheap abundant oil. The worlds transportation system is built on cheap oil, half of all the things that are made are made from cheap oil; that’s anything plastic for a start. It’s a truly mind boggling thought. Take a look around you, the machine your reading this on is dependant upon oil based plastics.
Just as the oil is going into decline the world’s population is rocketing. We hit 6 Billion souls around the year 2000 and the projections are for 10 Billion in 30 years time just about the time fossil fuels reach depletion. Imagine all those mouths to feed, transport and house. The implications for the earth are enormous even with a stable supply of cheap abundant energy.