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The Bulletin:  March 13-19, 2025

The Bulletin:  March 13-19, 2025

 


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The Great Gas Pipeline Caper of 2025 – by Terry Cowan

BlackRock CEO Says American ‘Practicalism’ Can ‘Make Energy Great’ | The Epoch Times

Some Psychology for Responding To a World in Chaos

Can We Feed Ourselves Just out of Our Vegetable Gardens?

The Lost Art of Grieving: Grief as Ritual, Resistance, and Resilience

Welcome to the Era of Energy Realism – by Roger Pielke Jr.

We Have Even Less Time than We Thought to Get Ready for Collapse

Canada’s critical minerals and why Trump wants them

What about installing solar arrays on farms? Isn’t that a good use of land?

You’re Not Special

Acres of Amazon rainforest trees cut down to build road for climate summit

Eukaryotic phytoplankton decline due to ocean acidification could significantly impact global carbon cycle

‘The riskometer has been going up all the time’: Tim Lenton on tipping points – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

When Dissent Becomes a Crime: The War on Political Speech Begins – Global Research

Power and Control- The Vast Censorship Enterprise

The 2027 American War with Canada — A Soldier’s Perspective

The Ponzi Is Crumbling – by Lau Vegys

Mind-Boggling: Microplastics are Blotting Out Photosynthesis

The 7 Fundamental Drivers of Overshoot – by Nate Hagens

The twilight of American hegemony – Collapse Life

Surviving Collapse: Mobility

You’ve Got a Blackout in Pennsylvania | RealClearWire

Doug Casey on Fort Knox, Government Secrecy, and the True Role of Gold

9 Takeaways from the JP Morgan Chase Energy Study You Won’t Want to Miss

Many U.S. bird species seen as reaching population ‘tipping point’ – The Japan Times

Blooming Neo-Imperialism

Europe Faces Late-Winter Test to Its Energy System Resilience | OilPrice.com

Masters of the Universe

What’s the Difference Between “Surplus” and “Waste”? The Waste Is Waste High Quality of Life Economy.

The Global Reset: Energy, Geopolitics, and Market Upheaval | Art Berman

Throwing the Monkey Wrench Into the System

A Civilisation Built on Conflict and Supremacy – George Tsakraklides

Alexa’s Privacy Backtrack: Amazon Pushes All Voice Data to the Cloud

“Beyond Reasonable Doubt”: Former MI6 Head Told Boris Johnson COVID-19 “Was Engineered In The WIV” | ZeroHedge

Degrowth: Sanity in Spiraling Chaos – by Geoffrey Deihl

Saudi Aramco, IEA Chiefs Clash In Houston Over the Future of Oil

Accelerationism

US Treasury Slashes Cash Reporting Threshold to $200, Expanding Financial Surveillance in Border Areas

Trump Is Now At War With Iran

In likely message to Iran, Israeli and US air forces carry out joint drill with heavy bomber | The Times of Israel

US wild bird populations continue steep decline | Climate & Capitalism

Jeff Currie’s “New Joule Order”—A Compelling but Flawed Energy Framework | Art Berman

The Ball Comes to Rest | Do the Math

Trump Says He’s Authorizing Use of Coal for Energy Production | The Epoch Times

Is 100 Years Of Cheap Food Coming To An End?

Shut Up About Trump, It’s Not Resistance

Trump Positions US Military For Imminent War With Iran


If you have arrived here and get something out of my writing, please consider ordering the trilogy of my ‘fictional’ novel series, Olduvai (PDF files; only $9.99 Canadian), via my website or the link below — the ‘profits’ of which help me to keep my internet presence alive and first book available in print (and is available via various online retailers).

Attempting a new payment system as I am contemplating shutting down my site in the future (given the ever-increasing costs to keep it running). 

If you are interested in purchasing any of the 3 books individually or the trilogy, please try the link below indicating which book(s) you are purchasing. 

Costs (Canadian dollars):
Book 1: $2.99
Book 2: $3.89
Book 3: $3.89
Trilogy: $9.99

Feel free to throw in a ‘tip’ on top of the base cost if you wish; perhaps by paying in U.S. dollars instead of Canadian. Every few cents/dollars helps… 

https://paypal.me/olduvaitrilogy?country.x=CA&locale.x=en_US 

If you do not hear from me within 48 hours or you are having trouble with the system, please email me: olduvaitrilogy@gmail.com.

You can also find a variety of resources, particularly my summary notes for a handful of texts, especially William Catton’s Overshoot and Joseph Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies: see here.

The Bulletin: February 20-26, 2025

The Bulletin: February 20-26, 2025

US Flies Bomber Group Over Middle East In Warning To Enemies | ZeroHedge

Bizarre Symptoms of Societal Collapse

Peak Oil. Food. Fascism. Collapse.

Guest post: How the global ‘water gap’ will grow under climate change – Carbon Brief

Bird study finds much larger volumes of toxic PFAS chemicals than previously reported

Trump energy chief says there are upsides to ecological collapse

The ‘Decline’ of Nations: How Elite Surplus and Inequality Lead to Societal Upheaval

The Electrify Everything Myth | Damn the Matrix

The Wider Boundary of Symptom Predicaments

Science Will Not Save Us

Science Snippets: Human Activity Changes Tilt, Rotation of Earth as Arctic Mercury Bomb Poses Threat

Sustainability is destroying the Earth | Deep Green Resistance New York

The Dogs of Chernobyl Are Going Through Strange Genetic Changes. Scientists Are Still Trying to Figure Out Why.

Radioactive leaks found at 75% of US nuke sites – CBS News

Racing to Extinction – by Elisabeth

Action 101: Anatomy of a Campaign

Deconstructing Globalization

Arctic Defence: The Growing Geopolitical Battle for the North | The Epoch Times

Lula pushes oil drilling at mouth of Amazon despite climate risks

A Combination of Supplements and Exercise May Slow Biological Aging

This Next Market Crash Will Break Our Fragile Brains

Solutions: The Art of Avoiding Reality | Art Berman

In 1177 BCE, Civilizations Fell Apart In A Mysterious Simultaneous Collapse | IFLScience

Yves Engler now a Political Prisoner. Protecting Dissident Journalism! The Need for Independent Media! – Global Research

Complexity – Diversity = Fragility – by Eric Keyser

‘Green Grab’: Solar and Wind Boom Sparks Conflicts on Land Use – Yale E360

Scientists discover unexpected decline in global ocean evaporation amid rising sea temperatures

Short-termism is killing the planet – by Jonathan Tonkin

How do you write about collapse, from within in a collapsing world?

Why We’re Failing: We’re Not a Mechanism

The Link Between Soil Health and Water

I Believe The World Is Ending – Does That Make Me Crazy?

The Great Escape | Do the Math

The #1 Warning Sign Capital Controls Are Coming Soon and 3 Ways To Beat Them

Engineered Collapse of the Middle Class

The Great Game Reborn—Energy, Geopolitics, and the Reversal of the Liberal Order | Art Berman

Telling others about peak oil and limits to growth

State of emergency declared after blackout plunges most of Chile into darkness | CNN

Prepping for Others, The True Key to Survival in Collapse

DeepSeek Says Civilisation Is Doomed

The Bulletin: February 13-19, 2025

The Bulletin: February 13-19, 2025

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What Will Energy Dominance Be Used For? – by Arthur Berman

Thirsty For Solutions, Water Scarcity Grips Iraq

Humans will Not Go Gentle into That Good Night

Nine Meals To Chaos

The Double Bind of Collapse | how to save the world

Ecological Collapse Supersedes Financial Collapse

The Crisis Report – 101 – by Richard Crim

We Are the Stewards of Our Future – by Nate Hagens

On Human (Over)Population – by Andrea P

Shell’s Flawed Report: The 2025 Energy Security Scenarios

High-Explosive Drone Pierces Shell Of Chernobyl Nuclear Plant At Very Moment Trump Pushes Ukraine Toward Peace | ZeroHedge

Earthconomics 101: There Is a Killer on the Loose – George Tsakraklides

The War for Mineral Non-Resources – by Ugo Bardi

Are We Doomed? – Biocentric with Max Wilbert

The Tug of War Between Forests and Oceans

The Psychology of Collapse: A Deep Dive in Human Misbehavior

From the Archives: The Epic Failure Of Modern Experts

The Shape of Things to Come – The Honest Sorcerer

Plant Once, Harvest Forever: 15 Perennial Veggies for Endless Abundance – Garden Beds

Science Snippets: Shifts in World’s Largest Ocean Current Linked to Southern Ocean Upwelling During Warm Intervals

Humans Are The Only Animal That Willingly Destroys Their Own Home

How America will collapse (by 2025) | Salon.com

AMOC Collapse: The Looming Climate Catastrophe & Global Consequences

Collapse Dialogue Derailments

The West Faces Uranium Shortage Amid Competition From China and Russia

Money as an Agent of Death – George Tsakraklides

The Story You’ve Been Told About Recycling Is a Lie

Historical Perspective: How the US and the World Fell into the Hands of International Private Bankers – Global Research

Virtual Reality | Do the Math

Prepping isn’t just for preppers anymore—it’s time to get a go-bag | Popular Science

The Bulletin: January 16-22, 2025

The Bulletin: January 16-22, 2025

Visualizing All Of Canada’s Cancelled Energy Projects | ZeroHedge

Geological Events Show the Difference Between Predicaments and Problems

The Everything Bubble Suddenly Feels Unstable

The War Behind The War: What World War III Is Really Being Fought Over | ZeroHedge

When was growth?

Preventable Deaths And Vitamin D3 | ZeroHedge

Greece Calls On EU For Fast Response To Surging Energy Prices

Rare earth mining in Myanmar’s Chipwi region causes socio-economic decline and severe environmental damage – ENG.MIZZIMA.COM

Drill, Baby, Drill – Waking Up in the Age of Absurdity

Norway warns its oil and gas production is in decline

None Of These War Criminals Will Face Justice As Long As the US Empire Exists

Decoding the UN Sustainable Development Goals: Indoctrinating Your Children Into the New “Fake Sustainable” World Order – Global Research

Firecraft Guide Part I: Tindering the Flame

Climate, Net Zero and Other Words You Must Stop Using

Giant freshwater aquifer in southern Africa is under threat from mining

Greenland’s melting ice is clearing the way for a mineral ‘gold rush’

Is Digitization Catastrophic for Civilization?

Climate Fatigue: Why the Story of Saving the Planet Isn’t Selling | Art Berman

The Red Giant – The Honest Sorcerer

Every Large Economy on Earth is Shrinking

The Imp with a Chainsaw – by Ugo Bardi – The Seneca Effect

How to Survive a Pre-Collapse Dystopia: a Conceptual Segmentation – George Tsakraklides

Resource Insights: Wishful thinking? Sweden building nuclear waste site to last 100,000 years

Trump To Declare National Energy Emergency | ZeroHedge

Questioning lithium-ion batteries, fire risks & hydrating dry regions

Extremes Become More Extreme, Then Revert to the Mean

Frightening Memories of Project Ice-worm: Militarization and the Future of the Arctic Region – Global Research

Trump, Musk, Gaza, the Rise of Totalitarianism and the End of the US Empire

Decisions, Decisions | Do the Math

Donald Trump Is The Empire Unmasked – by Caitlin Johnstone

After millennia as CO₂ sink, more than one-third of Arctic-boreal region is now a source

Heat waves could worsen as soil moisture changes, climate models reveal

Unprecedented winter storm paralyzes Gulf Coast with record-breaking snow even in Florida | CNN

‘Catastrophic’: Great Barrier Reef hit by its most widespread coral bleaching, study finds

Alberta government lifts ban on coal exploration in Eastern Slopes | CBC News

The Do It Yourself Decade

Direction of Global Crises to Depend on Trump’s Next Steps, Russia’s Lavrov Says | The Epoch Times

PJM Grid Declares “Max Generation Alert” As Polar Vortex Unleashes Mini Ice Age | ZeroHedge

All Lifeforms Are Worthless – George Tsakraklides

The Bulletin: January 9-15, 2025

The Bulletin: January 9-15, 2025

The Falsification of Everything | how to save the world

Emissions Are SO Not the Only Problem with Cars

Rhyming History: Weimar Germany’s Hyperinflation

At least 6 dead, more than 300 000 without power as major winter storm sweeps through U.S.

Net Energy Cliff & the Collapse of Civilization

Quarter of Freshwater Animals Face Extinction, New Study Warns – Newsweek

A Nickel Rush Threatens Indonesia’s Last Nomadic Tribes and Its Forests, Fishermen and Farmers – Inside Climate News

Arresting and Killing Greenies: Targeting Climate Change Protests – Global Research

The Science of Anti-Russian Propaganda – by Glenn Diesen

Decoupling what!? – by Gunnar Rundgren

One Way or Another, the World is Headed for a Degrowth Future | by Doug Bierend

The UK’s Strange Collapse – John Rubino’s Substack

Trump’s Threats Against Greenland, Canada and Elsewhere Are All About Energy Interests – Global Research

Positioned For a Historic Crash – The Daily Reckoning

Natural Gas Production is Contracting

The blackouts are coming – by Elisabeth Robson

The Energy March of Folly | Art Berman

Government Spending Will Cause the Next Financial Crisis | Mises Institute

America’s Great Climate Migration Has Begun. Here’s What You Need to Know. | Columbia Magazine

From Crisis to Connection: Why Radio is the Lifeline You Need to Learn Now

#296: Predicament, not outcome | Surplus Energy Economics

Escobar: Empire Of Chaos, Reloaded | ZeroHedge

The Human Souffle – The Honest Sorcerer

Oh, YouWhat the world needs now is directions for reducing our dependence on technology

Grabbing Greenland’s Oil. But does it Exist? – by Ugo Bardi Mean THAT Democracy | how to save the world

The adverse, long-term health effects of wildfires

Have You Been Faked Out by the Panama-Canada-Greenland Syndrome? – Global Research

What If Tech, the Market and the State Are No Longer Solutions?

Russia, Iran To Sign ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ Treaty This Week | ZeroHedge

Extreme rainfall leaves 10 dead in Ipatinga, Minas Gerais, Brazil – The Watchers

Thrust Into Power: A Thought Experiment | how to save the world

Never Mind the Propaganda, the World Should Know About America’s Countless Wars – Global Research

Chapter 3 – How energy and natural resources inhibit growth

Going, Going…

Los Angeles burns: What you need to know

Credit Card Default Wave Hits U.S. Banks

2025: The Year the Federal Debt Bubble Bursts – International Man

Cool Nights Needed to Grow Potatoes Slipping Away

Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CXCV–‘Renewable’ Energy: See, Hear, and Speak No Evil, Part 1

Today’s Contemplation: Collapse Cometh CXCV–‘Renewable’ Energy: See, Hear, and Speak No Evil, Part 1

recent post on environmentalism as a meme states that ‘renewable’ energy supporters hold that these technologies solve some significant problems that humanity faces.

‘Renewable’ energy enthusiasts claim the following: wars are not created as a result of them; they fight pollution; and through their use security is improved, jobs are created, and wealth is generated.

Each of these beliefs about ‘renewables’ could be argued to hold some ‘truth’ and be construed as positive, depending entirely upon one’s perspective. I would argue, however, that this perspective is relatively narrow and ignores much of the complexity surrounding our energy production, use, and especially the negative consequences that arise from such production and use.

I believe that these perceptions about renewables and the amplification of them by their cheerleaders feed into the monster that is the mythos (and false hope) around modern complex society ‘sustainability’ and a pending energy ‘transition’.

Let me deconstruct each of these ideas on our ‘renewable energy transition’ and its associated industrial technologies over this and my next Contemplation.

Claim #1: Wars are not created as a result of them
Implicit in this first view is that wars have and are arising from societal competition over the energy source that ‘renewables’ are seeking to ‘replace’: hydrocarbons. I cannot disagree whatsoever with this implication: wars have and are occuring as a result of attempts to gain control over hydrocarbon resources.

Although not typically admitted by governments and/or a region’s ruling elite, there is plenty of evidence to support the argument that resources in general are a significant contributing factor to kinetic wars; they rarely, if ever, arise due to the reasons typically promoted by nations as they seek to garner the support of their citizens for military engagements. Our elite wish the masses to buy into the belief that wars are fought almost exclusively over moral issues–to simplify: good versus evil. It is just coincidental that those evil ‘others’ tend to be in possession of lands that hold lots of natural resources, such as: water, timber, fishing grounds, arable farmland, precious metals and gemstones, rare-earth minerals, hydrocarbons, and/or uranium.


Brave AI-generated summary


It can be stated with fair certainty that for the past 50+ years many wars have been fought over our industrial societies’ master resource: hydrocarbons. This appears particularly obvious when one considers the geopolitical gamesmanship surrounding the Middle East over this time, including a number of hot wars and the petrodollar deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia struck in 1974. And it is probably not coincidental that the increase in such wars and machinations occurred not long after the U.S. Empire passed its peak in cheap, conventional crude oil in 1970 (just as predicted by petroleum geologist Marion King Hubbert in 1956).

For a current example, one need look no further than the decade-old U.S. invasion and occupation of hydrocarbon-rich regions of Syria. (Interesting, isn’t it, how the sovereignty and border integrity of some nation states is unimportant or simply ignored, while for others it’s worth ‘investing’–with probably a lot of money laundering–billions/trillions of dollars and risking many lives. Can you say double standard? Perhaps it’s because that ‘evil’ Syrian government happened to be controlling an area with ‘our’ oil.)

Regardless, it seems obvious that competition over hydrocarbon reserves results in war.

But the production and use of ‘renewables’ won’t result in wars? Let’s glance behind the curtain for a moment to unpack this initial claim.

First of all–and although die-hard techno-optimists/ecomodernists may deny/ignore/dispute the following–’renewables’ depend upon significant inputs of hydrocarbons for their production, distribution, maintenance, and reclamation/disposal. Despite extremely small-scale examples of power derived via ‘renewables’ to carry out these processes (but greatly amplified by ‘renewables’ cheerleaders), huge amounts of hydrocarbons are indispensable to the supposed energy ‘transition’. Almost all the important industrial processes required to produce ‘renewables’ need hydrocarbons to power them.

And if we are to attempt what some are calling for–a ‘war-footing’ investment in a massive rollout of ‘renewables’–then one hell of a lot of hydrocarbons are required; probably more than can be garnered from existing global reserves for the scale of such a feat. And remember scale is significantly important to any energy ‘transition’ that depends upon ‘renewables’ since the electricity generated by these technologies accounts for only a smallish amount of the current power needs of modern, industrial societies–to say little about growing energy demands due to the ongoing pursuit of the perpetual growth chalice and the globe’s increasing population.

A very significant portion of humanity’s primary energy needs is still met by way of hydrocarbons–more than 80%. To replace our current demands (ignore for the moment that these demands keep growing–just think about the energy needs being bandied about for Artificial Intelligence and data centres) would require gargantuan numbers of solar panels, and/or wind turbines, and/or nuclear power plants.

For example, to replace the electricity portion of our energy demands (remember that hydrocarbons are used for much more than just electricity production) via ‘renewables’ would require tens of millions of solar panels, and/or many millions of wind turbines to be produced, and/or thousands of nuclear power plants to be constructed.

So the initial glitch in the ‘wars are not created as a result of them’ claim is that if wars are created as a result of competition over hydrocarbon resources and hydrocarbon resources are necessary for the creation (and re-creation) of ‘renewables’, then wars are indeed created as a result of them–their production necessitates that the competition/wars over hydrocarbons continue. And such competition would need to ramp up very significantly given the scale of ‘renewables’ being clamoured for and the hydrocarbons that would be needed.

The second major glitch for this ‘no war’ claim is stumbled upon once one is aware that ‘renewables’ also require a number of other finite and rare-earth mineral resources for their production. And the concentrated deposits of these minerals do not occur in equitable distributions across the planet. Some of those evil ‘others’ happen to be sitting on the lands that hold the minerals we need for our ‘renewables’. Oops…talk about bad planning.

And then there’s the ‘warfare’ being waged upon the peoples of some of the mineral-rich regions (particularly nations with emerging or developing economies) who are stripped of rights, forcibly removed/relocated, required to work under less-than-ideal circumstances, increasingly exposed to pollutants/toxins, etc.. To say little about the ‘war’ waged against our ecosystems by the pursuit of ‘renewables’ (see below for more on this aspect).

Our species has been carrying out the brutal phenomenon of war for millennia prior to the use of hydrocarbons and I have little doubt that this is not going to halt, dissipate, or even be reduced through the adoption of ‘renewables’ as the notion implies. In fact, quite the opposite may be true if ruling elites across the globe believe that their wealth, control, and prestige are in jeopardy because somewhere and someone else has the resources required to ‘power’ via ‘renewables’ their lifestyles and fiefdoms (or at least line their pockets with the wealth being funnelled into the ‘electrify everything’ racket).

In fact, societal competition over regions of the planet that hold some of the mineral resources listed above as needed for ‘renewables’ started decades ago and can only get worse as we have already draw down a lot of the lowest-hanging fruit (i.e., best deposits) of these finite materials.

So, sorry, not sorry; if wars are fought over resources that are perceived as being necessary for a society’s energy needs, then the claim that wars are not fought as a result of ‘renewables’ is completely and utterly erroneous. To argue that wars are not created as a result of ‘renewables’ being produced and used completely ignores reality through some significantly darkly-shaded blinders.

Claim #2: They fight pollution
This is perhaps the most obviously misinformed assertion made by ‘renewables’ promoters. While within a narrow, keyhole perspective–focussed upon the lack of carbon emissions produced once the technologies have been manufactured and distributed–this may be accurate, such a statement completely ignores the massive ecologically-destructive mining required for the extraction and refinement of the minerals that help to create these technologies. It also overlooks the significant hydrocarbon inputs and their contribution to pollution of our ecosystems.

Mining is amongst the most polluting and destructive endeavours that humans engage in. To ignore this required activity in the production of ‘renewables’ technologies and then maintain that ‘renewables’ do not pollute is completely outlandish (bullshit, actually). But this fantastical belief is held tightly by many (most?) who assert that ‘renewables’ are and the energy ‘transition’ will be ‘clean/green’. This doesn’t just ignore reality, it distorts it beyond belief.

Some attempt to rationalise such destructive activities suggesting they are a one-off and everything is ‘clean/green’ once the products are manufactured. But this too ignores a lot. It ignores two very important facts: ‘renewables’ have a limited lifespan and/or can malfunction needing replacement; and, ‘recycling’ does not and cannot reclaim all the materials in them to ‘recreate’ them without more mining, to say little about the tremendous energy costs of recycling and pollutants/toxins that arise from the process.

This rationalisation also ignores the already overloaded planetary sinks and their increasing inability to absorb more pollutants/toxins. And the pollution and toxins that would be released into our ecosystems by the scale of ‘renewables’ production some are calling for would be monumental. Absolutely monumental.

Also keep in mind that the estimates provided above for how many solar panels and/or wind turbines would be required to replace the hydrocarbon-produced electricity that our complex societies demand do not take into account the number of additional panels or turbines that would be required to make up for the intermittency of these technologies. The sun only shines for a limited number of hours per day, and/or can encounter very cloudy or snowy conditions for many locations, and sometimes the wind doesn’t blow.

Then there are the massive and unprecedented battery storage facilities that would be required to store harvested energy for use when the sun is not shining or the wind is not blowing. The negative impact upon our ecosystems from the production (that also require massive finite and rare-earth minerals via mining), use of, and reclamation/disposal of batteries would also be tremendously monumental.

Add on top of these ‘roadblocks’ to some ‘green/clean’ utopian future the infrastructure build-out that would be required to support all this ‘electrification of everything’ and the replacement of all those hydrocarbon-dependent technologies and the impact on our ecosystems is beyond comprehension.

Just as they do not reduce the drawdown of hydrocarbons and their use but add to them, ‘renewables’ do not ‘fight’ pollution–they exacerbate it, significantly. To maintain that ‘renewables’ fight pollution is probably even more outrageously egregious than holding that they don’t result in war.

I close Part 1 of this Contemplation with a section of Charles Hugh Smith’s latest book–The Mythology of Progress, Anti-Progress and a Mythology for the 21st Century–that highlights the lore surrounding ‘clean’ technology:

The Mythology of ‘Clean Technology’
“The disconnect between the inspirational, make-believe story of Progress and the real world reaches its most jarring extreme in the mythology of clean technology, which imagines a wondrous utopia of clean skies and clean air delivered by clean technology.

The mythology neatly ignores the polluted air, ravaged landscape and exploited workers of the developing world nations that are being torn apart for the minerals needed to build the supposedly clean technologies for the wealthy developed nations.

This is mythology at its most appalling, a bizarre myopia to the dreadful environmental destruction and human suffering caused by wealthy nations’ stripmining developed nations for the resources needed for hundreds of millions of batteries, copper for expanding the electrical grid and all the other ‘clean technologies’ that are only ‘clean’ because wealthy nations have offloaded all the poisoned air and water, environmental damage and poor health onto the developing nations–the penultimate expression of the asymmetry of the global power structure created by the mythology of Progress.

‘Clean technology’ is nothing more than the distorted, self-serving fantasy of the wealthy exploiting the powerless for their own pleasures and profits. The clean skies and electric bikes of Amsterdam and dozens of other developed-world capitals come not from clean technology but from the exploitation of the planet and the powerless in distant lands, far from the clean skies and profits of the powerful and wealthy.” (pp. 168-169)


See also this recent article in The Tyee by Andrew Nikiforuk on the ‘energy transition’ arguing that there is no energy ‘revolution’, only addition to our growing energy use.


What is going to be my standard WARNING/ADVICE going forward and that I have reiterated in various ways before this:

“Only time will tell how this all unfolds but there’s nothing wrong with preparing for the worst by ‘collapsing now to avoid the rush’ and pursuing self-sufficiency. By this I mean removing as many dependencies on the Matrix as is possible and making do, locally. And if one can do this without negative impacts upon our fragile ecosystems or do so while creating more resilient ecosystems, all the better.

Building community (maybe even just household) resilience to as high a level as possible seems prudent given the uncertainties of an unpredictable future. There’s no guarantee it will ensure ‘recovery’ after a significant societal stressor/shock but it should increase the probability of it and that, perhaps, is all we can ‘hope’ for from its pursuit.


If you have arrived here and get something out of my writing, please consider ordering the trilogy of my ‘fictional’ novel series, Olduvai (PDF files; only $9.99 Canadian), via my website or the link below — the ‘profits’ of which help me to keep my internet presence alive and first book available in print (and is available via various online retailers).

Attempting a new payment system as I am contemplating shutting down my site in the future (given the ever-increasing costs to keep it running).

If you are interested in purchasing any of the 3 books individually or the trilogy, please try the link below indicating which book(s) you are purchasing.

Costs (Canadian dollars):
Book 1: $2.99
Book 2: $3.89
Book 3: $3.89
Trilogy: $9.99

Feel free to throw in a ‘tip’ on top of the base cost if you wish; perhaps by paying in U.S. dollars instead of Canadian. Every few cents/dollars helps…

https://paypal.me/olduvaitrilogy?country.x=CA&locale.x=en_US

If you do not hear from me within 48 hours or you are having trouble with the system, please email me: olduvaitrilogy@gmail.com.

You can also find a variety of resources, particularly my summary notes for a handful of texts, especially William Catton’s Overshoot and Joseph Tainter’s Collapse of Complex Societies: see here.

AND

Released September 30, 2024
It Bears Repeating: Best Of…Volume 2

A compilation of writers focused on the nexus of limits to growth, energy, and ecological overshoot.

With a Foreword by Erik Michaels and Afterword by Dr. Guy McPherson, authors include: Dr. Peter A Victor, George Tsakraklides, Charles Hugh Smith, Dr. Tony Povilitis, Jordan Perry, Matt Orsagh, Justin McAffee, Jack Lowe, The Honest Sorcerer, Fast Eddy, Will Falk, Dr. Ugo Bardi, and Steve Bull.

The document is not a guided narrative towards a singular or overarching message; except, perhaps, that we are in a predicament of our own making with a far more chaotic future ahead of us than most imagine–and most certainly than what mainstream media/politics would have us believe.

Click here to access the document as a PDF file, free to download.

The Bulletin: December 19-25, 2024

The Bulletin: December 19-25, 2024

The Great Simplification in Action: Building Resilience Through Local Communities

Antarctica’s tipping points threaten global climate stability

Coal use to reach new peak – and remain at near-record levels for years | Energy industry | The Guardian

Homesteading 101: Regenerative Farming and the American Farmer.

A Predicament With An Outcome

Population Decline & Overshoot – Itsovershoot

American Can’t Escape Its Water Crisis | by Angus Peterson | Edge of Collapse | Dec, 2024 | Medium

How ‘the mother of all bubbles’ will pop

Prices Rise As Food Production is Threatened by Drought, Topsoil Loss, and Overheated Earth

Technocracy Rising: Why It’s Crucial to Understand the End Game – Global Research

Why We Failed

US Shale Nears Limits Of Productivity

Why Hope is Killing the Planet. The belief that “someone” will solve… | by Angus Peterson | Edge of Collapse | Nov, 2024 | Medium

Climate Triggers Earthquakes

Middle East – Towards Endless Chaos? – Global Research

Even NASA Can’t Explain The Alarming Surge in Global Heat We’re Seeing : ScienceAlert

Nuclear Neo-Feudalism – The Honest Sorcerer

Political Economy Forever? – by Steve Keen

Depression, Debt, Default & Destruction in 2025 -Martin Armstrong | Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog

Health Prepping: Stop Poisoning Your Family

Are You Willing To Reduce Your Standard Of Living By 50%, Or Even 10%

Trump’s Trade Wars Will Fail, Currency Wars Will Be Next – MishTalk

Central Banks Will Prioritize Government Spending Over Inflation In 2025 | dlacalle.com

Superorganism – by Nathan Knopp – System Failure

The American Shale Patch Is All About Depletion Now

US Shale Nears Limits Of Productivity Gains

A Debt Jubilee of Biblical Proportions Is Coming — Are You Ready?

The End Of The Age Of Scientism

A List Of 24 Things That You Will Desperately Need In A Post-Apocalyptic World

The Impending Collapse of Modernity: A Stark Warning for the Next Few Decades

The Bulletin: December 12-18, 2024

The Bulletin: December 12-18, 2024

The Baby Bust: How The Toxicity Crisis Could Cause the Next Economic Crash

Global Warming and the Great Unravelling

All Stories Are Propaganda | how to save the world

The Big Shining Lie: We’re Better Off Now–No, We’re Poorer, Much Poorer

Are We Running Out Of Copper? This Image Says Yes

America Is A Long Con

Saltwater will taint 77% of coastal aquifers by century’s end, modeling study finds

Fukushima: Disaster Response is to Spread Radioactive Waste to the Commons – CounterPunch.org

Drought alert issued in Pakistan

Water Scarcity

Environmental-Political Collapse Accelerates – resilience

Book review: Five Insights for Avoiding Global Collapse

Why I Am a Realist – by John J. Mearsheimer – Savage Minds

THE EVIL CYCLES OF WAR AND ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION – VON GREYERZ

“Thank You for Ruining My Life” – The Great Simplification

What it Takes to Master a Collapsing World

Collapse: A Timeline

​​Corporations Are Not Your Friends | how to save the world

Rhyming History: France’s First Hyperinflation

Before Societal Implosion Comes

Syria: Will It Prove To Be the Empire’s Final Quagmire?

Food From Commodity To Commons

World Coal Demand and Exports Set for New Record Highs in 2024 | OilPrice.com

Can Europe Afford Its Energy Transition

Science Snippets: Microplastics Changing Earth’s Climate

Kansas farmers wrestling with how to save their water source — and their future

#295: Beans on tech | Surplus Energy Economics

All Three Pillars Holding Up the Economy Have Cracked

Why it is urgent to take a proactive attitude towards protecting the extant natural forests

UN Talks Fail To Reach Agreement On Dealing With Rising Risk Of Global Drought

Santa, Please Bring Me a War for Christmas

The Real Cost of Net Zero

Peter Thiel Reveals How Scared Oligarchs Are Of The People

Control Oil and You Control Nations | Art Berman

Over 70% of the world’s aquifers could be tainted by 2100

Farming has always been gambling with dirt – but the odds are getting longer | Gabrielle Chan | The Guardian

Copper Mining: Totally Not Green, But Totally Needed for “Green” Energy

Mainstream Propaganda Machine. Galvanizing US Public for War with Iran. Worldwide Military Escalation? – Global Research

Whoever Does Not Respect the Penny is Not Worthy of the Dollar – Doug Casey’s International Man

Trump And Israel Can’t Wait To Start Bombing Iran

Book Review: After Progress – by Shane Simonsen

Egregious Inequality | Do the Math

The Bulletin: December 5-11, 2024

The Bulletin: December 5-11, 2024

The Argument for Assisted Collapse – George Tsakraklides

Total Grid Collapse Strikes Cuba (Again) | ZeroHedge

Yes, Climate Change Is Probably Going To Kill You

Reductionism Doesn’t Work Holistically

It was always about the oil

#294: The perils of extremes | Surplus Energy Economics

Lavrov Warns Europe The New Cold War Is Turning ‘Hot’ | ZeroHedge

Full Lavrov-Tucker Interview: US & Russia Need To Cooperate ‘For The Sake Of The Universe’ | ZeroHedge

‘Scary’ drought empties one of Bosnia’s largest lakes

Chevron Cuts Permian Capex for 2025 | OilPrice.com

Money is a Claim on Energy – Nate Hagens (The Great Simplification)

The war whores of the military-industrial complex are lighting the world on fire

Global Food Prices Hit 19-Month High As Upward Momentum Sparks Fears Of Stickiness | ZeroHedge

The Three Types of Elites – Charles Hugh Smith’s Substack

Ecological Overshoot: Humanity’s Countdown to Extinction

Too Many Elephants In The Room: The Overpopulation Taboo (Readers’ Poll) – George Tsakraklides

Car tyres shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment – urgent action is needed

Lead In Gasoline May Have Caused Over 150 Million Excess Cases Of Mental Health Disorders, New Study Shows | ZeroHedge

Escobar: The Syria Tragedy & The New Omni-War | ZeroHedge

‘An existential threat affecting billions’: Three-quarters of Earth’s land became permanently drier in last 3 decades | Live Science

Grey Swans Are Circling – Charles Hugh Smith’s Substack

The Fall of Assad & What it Means for The Middle East (w/ Alastair Crooke) | The Chris Hedges Report

Oil, Power, and Statecraft: The Geopolitics of Energy in a Changing World | Art Berman

Disarming Propaganda | how to save the world

The future of extraction, energy dominance, and federal lands under Trump – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

Shortcut Brains | Do the Math

Ray Dalio predicts global debt crisis, backs Bitcoin, gold

De-Banked: It’s Only a Matter of Time Before It Happens to You

Grass, Roots, and Politics

World Coal Demand and Exports Set for New Record Highs in 2024 | OilPrice.com

East vs. West: A Global Dollar Dump Is Inevitable And The US Must Prepare

The Bulletin: November 28-December 4

The Bulletin: November 28-December 4

Globalists Go For Broke: Plan To Trigger World War III Moves Forward – Alt-Market.us

Why Bunkers Won’t Save The Super Rich

Hydropower decline due to climate change may increase price tag to decarbonize the grid

Energy Crises & Global Power Shifts: The Struggle for Stability in Israel, Iran, and Beyond

The shocks that made me abandon the green movement

Exxon Pours Cold Water On Trump’s “Drill, Baby, Drill” Plans | ZeroHedge

The Dilemma and Conundrum of Predicaments

Landman | Tommy Explains Why Even Wind Turbines Depend on the Oil Industry (S1, E3) | Paramount+

Here’s Why We Could See a Big Pivot Away From the Green Scam Agenda

This Dystopia Depends On Hiding Inconvenient Truths

Bankers, Fed Origins, and World War I | Mises Institute

The Civilizational Hospice Protocol

Small Farming, Urbanisation, and Climate Migration

Is Modernity Killing Itself?

Depopulation: Are the World’s Elites Planning to Kill Us?

“No Way Out” – French Credit Risk Spikes After Le Pen Confirms Backing Of ‘No Confidence’ Vote | ZeroHedge

Oil Producers Block Binding UN Treaty To Curb Plastics

Green Energy vs. the Mojave Desert

Babson’s Warning – Doug Casey’s International Man

‘Censorship Is About Stopping Ideas’: Incoming FCC Chairman Brendan Carr Prepares For Battle | ZeroHedge

Are Stocks Poised to Crash 55% Soon? – by David Haggith

Bumblebee population increases 116 times over in ‘remarkable’ Scotland rewilding project

Rethinking Energy, Productivity, and the Illusion of Endless Growth | Art Berman

DIY Microplastic Removal From Water? Study Says Yes

The Looming Debt Crisis: Is America Following the Path of Collapsed Empires?

A Mind-Blowing Leap | Do the Math

How Climate Change Is Framed to Disempower You | by Joe Brewer | Dec, 2024 | Medium

Carbon Dioxide: The Wonder Molecule

Don’t Buy Into Phony Anti-Establishment Schtick

Iran Ready To Send More Troops To Syria, But This Could Trigger Deeper Israeli Entry | ZeroHedge

House Oversight Report Supports Chinese Lab Leak Theory For Covid-19 Origins

Existential Risks: The Biggest Threats to Life as We Know It

The Bulletin: November 21-27, 2024

The Bulletin: November 21-27, 2024

How Societal Collapse Can Save Humans From Mass Extinction

Our Sixty Days of Nuclear Chicken Have Begun

ZeroHedge Edit: Fort Knox, Egon Von Greyerz, and Zoltan Pozsar

Doug Casey on the Looming Debt Crisis and What Lies Ahead – International Man

Biden’s parting Ukrainian sacrifice – by Aaron Maté

Trump’s science-denying fanatics are bad enough. Yet even our climate ‘solutions’ are now the stuff of total delusion | George Monbiot | The Guardian

Science Snippets: The Reality Of Abrupt, Irreversible Climate Change

Power Play: The Future of Food – Global Research

Why Hope Is Hopium

The Cantillon Effect Explained: Why Inflation Helps the State at Your Expense

UN’s Latest Climate Agenda Sparks Alarms Over Online Censorship

Today In Imperial Recklessness And Insanity

Rooted In Reality: Onions and Building Community

Mining fuels global deforestation and CO₂ surge: Study warns of climate risks

Taking the pulse of beans – by Gunnar Rundgren

Anti-Progress, Breakdown, Reset

If You Want To Help The World, Focus On Fighting The Empire

How Billionaires Manipulate the Public

Fueling the Flames: How the West’s Military Emissions Undermine Climate Action | Common Dreams

How the Global Distribution of Wealth Has Changed (2000-2023)

Rhyming History: Rome’s Hyperinflation

Blissful Ignorance is Blissfully Deceptive

Solutions Without Understanding: Why We’re Asking the Wrong Questions | Art Berman

A Diesel Powered Civilization – The Honest Sorcerer

‘It’s not drought – it’s looting’: the Spanish villages where people are forced to buy back their own drinking water

Population Decline A Challenge Or A Chance For A Better Future?

Does Anyone Think the COP Meetings Are Useful?

Russia’s Final Warning to NATO – You’ll Get your War, but It’ll be Over in 15 Minutes. – Global Research

Ukraine’s Former Top Military Commander Claims ‘World War 3 Has Officially Begun’ | ZeroHedge

Inflation: Savior of the Rich

Days of Thunder

Political Perfection | Do the Math

The Average Person’s Reaction to Collapse – by Lillian

Iraq Invasion – The Biggest Terrorist Attack in Modern History. “Terrorism of US-UK-NATO-Israel” – Global Research

Transfer Of Nukes To Ukraine Would Be Tantamount To Attack On Russia: Medvedev | ZeroHedge

The ‘Empire Killer’ Strikes Again – International Man

Globalists Go For Broke: Plan To Trigger World War III Moves Forward – Alt-Market.us

A Practical Guide to Money During Collapse | by Climate Survivor | Nov, 2024 | Medium

The Bulletin: November 14-20, 2024

The Bulletin: November 14-20, 2024

What We Refuse to Believe | how to save the world

“That’s Bait…” Chumming the Media Waters Doesn’t Work Like it Used To – Gold Goats ‘n Guns

US Deficit Explodes: Blowout October Deficit Means 2nd Worst Start To US Fiscal Year On Record | ZeroHedge

When The Show Is Over, The Actors Hold Hands And Take A Bow

Can we keep producing more food in a warmer world?

Civilizational Looting

The US Economy Will Collapse: How Trump Should Handle It

Microplastics In Clouds Impacting Weather

The Seeds of Social Revolution: Extreme Wealth Inequality

The Face At The Front Desk Changes, The Corporation Remains The Same | Patreon

Canadians to Hold National Day of Action Against F-35 Exports to Israel Via the United States – Global Research

Pressure on Canada to Export Water Will Be Immense | The Tyee

Refining Reality: The Hidden Struggles of a World Still Dependent on Oil | Art Berman

Canada Promises Climate Reparations at COP29 While Courting Big Oil at Home – DeSmog

Gazprom Cuts Gas To Austria Off, Just in Time for Winter | OilPrice.com

The Best Mental Health Hack

The 8 Essentials We Need to Control

“We Don’t Have Enough…”: Russia Temporarily Limits Exports Of Enriched Uranium To U.S. | ZeroHedge

A Diesel Powered Civilization – The Honest Sorcerer

Net Zero Rollback

The Impending Collapse of the European Union – by Ugo Bardi

The Great Silence of The Human Lambs – George Tsakraklides

Kremlin Responds To Joe Biden’s Authorization of ATACMS Missile Strikes – Newsweek

The Ten Commandments of War Propaganda

The Cure for What Ails Us: Market Crash and Mass Defaults

Too Much Focus on Carbon – by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Gaia’s Forge: When You Are the Hammer

2024 John Peach Peak Oil Report

Nuclear War Threat Mushrooms

The Bulletin: October 31-November 6, 2024

The Bulletin: October 31-November 6, 2024

They Are Scrubbing the Internet Right Now

EU Warns “Citizens” To Prepare For A Nuclear Disaster | SHTF Plan

Our Nation Is about to Reap the Whirlwind of All Lies we’ve Told

They’re doing what they’re accusing us of doing – American Thinker

Vote However You Want

Death toll from Spain floods passes 200 as rescue teams search for missing

Running AMOC

World War III has already begun, JP Morgan boss says

Becoming Invisible, Part 15

TV documentary on collapse readiness

Europe’s Gas Crisis Isn’t Over Despite Full Storage

The Collapse of Complex Societies – Professor Joseph Tainter

The Empire of Lies – by Ugo Bardi – The Seneca Effect

War. War Never Changes. – The Honest Sorcerer

DDoS Attack Cripples Archive.org: The Next Information War Front?

After The Storms, The Toxic Secrets Left Behind

How to…Rig Your Rigged Elections – OffGuardian

Escobar: The Roadblocks Ahead For The Sovereign Harmonious Multi-Nodal World | ZeroHedge

Rising hunger predicted across 16 global hotspots – The Watchers

Rainwater samples reveals it’s literally raining ‘forever chemicals’ in Miami

oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: The Limits of Government

Record Number Of Americans Plagued By Drought Amid Crop Damage Fears | ZeroHedge

Game Of Chess: US Prepares Next Move With More B-52s, Warships To Middle East | ZeroHedge

Our Fragile Infrastructure: Lessons From Hurricane Helene – Global Research

Global water supply faces unprecedented stress | Climate & Capitalism

The Bulletin: October 10-16, 2024

The Bulletin: October 10-16, 2024

Chaos is Coming – John Rubino | Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog

Social Trust: It’s Not Warm and Fuzzy, It’s the Money, Honey

Disinformation Isn’t the Problem. Government Coverups and Censorship Are the Problem – Global Research

The History Of “Round Up” and pathways for Glyphosate Detox (from the soil and human body)

A Tipping Point for Global Population and Economic Growth: What it Means for Oil | Art Berman

‘The water wars are coming’: Missouri looks to limit exports from rivers, lakes

Climate Change is Coming for Your Supply Chain

When the Electricity Dies | The Epoch Times

My New Book Is Unleashed: The Mythology of Progress

Facebook Faces Heat for Blocking Report on Arrest of US Journalist in Israel

The weeds are winning | MIT Technology Review

Assess Your Local Landscape For Collapse

UN warns world’s water cycle becoming ever more erratic

Planetary Health Check: The State of Earth’s Critical Systems

oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: A Hard Rain Is Going to Fall

Will There Be a Second Stone Age? – The Honest Sorcerer

Our food system is broken and we only have 60 harvests left, researchers warn

Oil shortages lead to hidden conflicts–even war

Can We Rein In the Excesses of Financialization Without Crashing the Economy?

#291: The coming shock | Surplus Energy Economics

Electric Power Update: Big Data, AI, Bitcoin, Natural Gas, and More

This Is How Oil Ends | Art Berman

The Bulletin: October 3-9, 2024

The Bulletin: October 3-9, 2024

Grid Apocalypse Hits Carolinas: 360 Substations Down, Power Restoration Could Take “Months” | ZeroHedge

From a Bunker in Israel, American Empire is Over – Charles Nenner | Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog

Why Political “Solutions” Don’t Fix Crises, They Make Them Worse

Bank Of America Customers Report Widespread Outage, Zero Balances | ZeroHedge

Politicians Who Promise “Economic Growth” Are Lying 💰

Helene is now the deadliest mainland U.S. hurricane since Katrina » Yale Climate Connections

Taiwan shuts down for second day as Typhoon Krathon makes landfall

The Double Bind With Mitigating Ideas

The One World Order Is Here. UN Pact of the Future. “United under UN Tyranny” – Global Research

Doug Casey Exposes the Global Elites’ Plan for Feudalism 2.0—and How You Can Resist

Reckoning with Growth – by Steve Keen – The Ideas Letter

The Western Media Helped Create These Horrors In The Middle East

Green Jobs or Greenwashing? – Biocentric with Max Wilbert

The Superorganism and the Self – by Nate Hagens

Adapt or Die, Or…? – Charles Hugh Smith’s Substack

Dramatic Footage Shows Tanker Blown Up In Critical Maritime Chokepoint As Disasters Mount For Biden-Harris | ZeroHedge

Think Climate Change Is a Hoax? Try Betting on It | Art Berman

Nowhere in America is safe from climate-fueled storms and fires, say scientists

What Would World War III Really Look Like? It’s Already Starting… – Alt-Market.us

Never Let Your Government Tell You Who Your Enemies Are

#290: Project 2050, part two | Surplus Energy Economics

Burn the Planet and Lock Up the Dissidents

As Empire Of Lies Crumbles, Hillary Clinton Warns: “We’ll Lose Total Control” If Social Media Stops Censoring Content | ZeroHedge

Julian Assange Exposes CIA’s Plot to Assassinate Him in First Public Hearing Since Release – Vigilant News Network

The Second Bronze Age – The Honest Sorcerer

Manufacturing Energy Crises – by Rachel Donald

This is what Peak Cheap Energy looks like

The Rogue Primate — Revisited | how to save the world

7 Key Takeaways: 2024 State of the Climate Report

Yes, You Need To Be Able To Do This [The Market Ticker ®]

Bye-bye, Civilization. It’s Been Nice Knowing You.

Flooded industrial sites and toxic chemical releases are a silent, growing threat in hurricanes like Milton and Helene

Olduvai IV: Courage
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Olduvai II: Exodus
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