Food Security. If you thought energy security was important...start to start thinking about "food security".

At the end of any day, you can choose to NOT drive to work, not to work at all for that matter...sure it would be difficult, maybe unpleasant, and cause hardship.

But IMAGINE, if you will, not having food. Numbers vary, but somewhere around 1 billion (BILLION - 9 zeroes) people struggle with STARVATION Daily!

Hard to imagine for most in the western world (I said most...but not all).

Some people make plans for energy security...but at the end of the day...FOOD SECURITY(along with water) TRUMPS ALL!

In Today's news - The global food crisis is in full swing (and not likely to improve in the near future).

India Finds U.S. at Fault in Food Cost

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/14/business/worldbusiness/14food.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin

Instead of blaming India and other developing nations for the rise in food prices, Americans should rethink their energy policy — and go on a diet.

-snip-

The debate has sometimes devolved into what sounded like petty playground taunts over who are the real gluttons devouring the world’s resources.

And so the story goes - who blames who, etc. The point is that we have a shortage of food. Monsanto and the other GMO brethren are glad to sell super seeds and further contaminate our world with misquided genetic engineering aimed at producing food without any side effects. They have a tough challenge...the world is losing about 1% of its arable land per year to development, top soil loss and soon sea level rise.

So the thought for the day is "Food security"...think about where your food comes from not just from a local impact perspective, but also guarantee of supply.

Or don't...more for me.

A lot of people question, if not challenge, the concept of Peak Anything. They say that technology will just provide new solutions to our challenges - Just in time.

You have to admit - it is a wonderful dream. Why worry, everything will be solved just in the nick of time.

Or will it...

Let's look at the concept of peak - specifically, RESOURCES.

First, ALL resources are FINITE in nature - even if they are renewable. For example, there is a FINITE amount of sunlight that falls on the earth each and every day...nothing we can do can increase that. So, you can extrapolate that how you like...there is a functional MAXIMUM to the amount of trees, crops, people we can grow with that resource.

Still don't get it. Right now we are BURNING Ancient sunlight to meet our energy needs. We are using up a precious NON-RENEWABLE resource so we can run to the corner store for a popscicle.

We should be ashamed...but I love the freedom too. It's just shocking that most people don't even consider what they are doing. I do, and I may still make that run to the corner store...but at least I recognize the price I am paying and make my own compensations now or in the near future.

Ok...so what. We aren't at Peak Oil (or anything else) ARE WE?

Good question...one could point you are a half dozen good sites to do some review - if you had the stomach for the math and science. But let's look at something more viceral for those that can't make the change(pun intended).

Scenes From the Tar Wars

http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/05/scenes-from-the-tar-wars.html

Underlying an area the size of Florida, Canada's tar sands (also known as oil sands) contain as much as 173 billion barrels of recoverable oil—more than the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Russia put together. Only Saudi Arabia possesses larger oil reserves. But removing oil from the sands, which involves injecting them with steam or digging them up and pumping in vast quantities of water to heat them, has always been astronomically expensive—until now.

Until Now - Read on - we are MINING OIL. Think about that for a second, go grab a Latte and then come back. MINING it. If we have the near unlimited resources some of the powers that be would have you believe, WHY are we MINING it?

We are using PRECIOUS Natural Gas (a beautiful and ancient molecule) and more crude oil to the tune of 1 barrel of crude(NG) for every 2 barrels of SYNCRUDE(tar sands crude) produced.

So MINING it at a poor margin to boot. This is before the environmental, and health costs.

The Athabathsca River is/has been destroyed by this operation so far, and DOZENS more TAR MINES are scheduled to be opened.

Ok...so what...you don't care maybe, not your problem...right.

Well, maybe it isn't in a direct sense. But the above details should turn on a light for you.

Cheap and Easy OIL (and NG) is gone!!!! We are on a plateau of production that started in 2005 and doesn't show any sign of improving.

Now in 2008, we are beginning to see the strain on other resources indirectly pressured by oil's peak.

Next time you read about Oil prices...think about it...we are MINING it. This is not a good place to be.

Lock in your Natural gas rates (and maybe your electricity too).

You know, those pesky dooring sales guys from direct suppliers trying to sell you contract rates for your NG.

Do it! Estimates are that NG will go up at least 200% in 4 years. That means your gas bill will double.

Lock in for 5 years. There is no mid term horizon on reducing rates on NG and in North America we all have peaked local production. LNG is even more expensive.

I only wish that I could lock in for longer.