From the March 2005 Idaho Observer:

Peak lunacy foreshadows end to age of oil

That "every action has an equal and opposite reaction," is an axiom of life with very few exceptions in the natural world, the spiritual world and the artificial world of human creativity. The age of oil is no exception: We have become so sophisticated in our ability to manipulate crude molecules that an entire universe of labor-saving and lifestyle-conveniencing substances and gadgets have been born—but there is a downside.

The downside is that the production of these synthetic substances, besides many of them being poisons in the first place, create tons of poisonous byproducts that must be disposed of. But where does one dispose of something that is not reabsorbed in the natural world? The answer is, "You don’t." And now the presence of synthetic substances and their poisonous byproducts are being detected in toxic amounts in air, water, on land, in our food—in the bodies of newborn people, animals and tissues of sprouting plants.

Since the early 1900s, when Nicola Tesla was experimenting with electricity, it has been demonstrated that passive, ambient, never-depletable energy sources are swirling around us all the time and using them creates no toxic emissions. Over the next few months, The IO will be reporting the activities of forward-thinkers who have applied their talents to developing viable energy and product alternatives to petroleum-based power and products. Our intention is to open doors in minds toward the day when we will leave our dependence on oil behind and embrace the alternative energies that ingenious people have developed for us.

by The Idaho Observer

Practical peak oil

"Peak oil" is the term attached to the exact moment in history when it will take more energy to extract dwindling supplies of petroleum than can be harvested.

"Peak oil is nonsense" is the term attached to the theory that there is plenty of oil to meet present and future demands on into the foreseeable future.

Both theories—peak oil and peak oil nonsense—are irrelevant. We are quickly approaching peak toxicity.

Almost everyone alive today has grown up and lived their lives entirely in the age of oil. Life as we know it is because of oil—politically, socially and economically.

The world is run by oil; from oil we get chemicals and; from chemicals we get pharmaceutical drugs.

At first the environment was able to diffuse the fuels, lubricants, paints, solvents, refrigerants, pesticides, herbicides, cleaners, lubricants, plastics, fertilizers, foams, rubbers and drugs that developed during the age of oil. But they are persistent chemicals that never go away; parts per zillion have become parts per billion and now they are present almost everywhere and in almost everything. People, animals and plants are suffering for it; our bodies are adapting by mutating genetically and becoming chronically ill.

There is no reason to debate peak oil—unless we hope that our supply of oil and petroleum products and byproducts outlive life on earth.

Ingenious people have developed alternatives that allow us to keep a semblance of the lifestyle to which we have become so desperately attached. We just haven’t had access to them for a variety of mostly self-destructive reasons.

The question should not be "Will the age of oil someday come to an end?" It should be, "When are we going to demand access to oil’s alternatives?"

The alternatives

For some time now, The IO has been accumulating (actually, our readers have been sending) information on real machines that actually run on alternative (and ambient) energy. We have also been accumulating information on innovative, earth-friendly products—cleaners, solvents, clothing, packaging, fertilizers, foods, drinks and more—that can be substituted for the toxic/environmentally-unfriendly products commonly in use today.

Peak lunacy

It is difficult to imagine an age that could be more insane than one where government and industry conspire to mandate the poisoning of people and their world; one where wars are fought and people killed to maintain the authority used to continue mining and producing poisons; a world where non-poisonous alternatives are scorned by the very people who are being poisoned.

It’s time to change our way of thinking and vow not to participate in peak lunacy.