Comments on: The Long Emergency, by James Howard Kunstler http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/ Musings on politics: anti-war, global warming, peak oil and otherwise Mon, 06 Oct 2008 21:43:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc By: Politics in the Zeros » The Long Emergency. Nuclear power http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141394 Politics in the Zeros » The Long Emergency. Nuclear power Fri, 07 Sep 2007 03:40:15 +0000 http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141394 [...] nukes. That’s the conclusion Jim Kunstler reaches in The Long Emergency, and I reluctantly agree. France already generates 70% of their power that way and have never had [...] [...] nukes. That’s the conclusion Jim Kunstler reaches in The Long Emergency, and I reluctantly agree. France already generates 70% of their power that way and have never had [...]

]]> By: DJ http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141365 DJ Thu, 06 Sep 2007 19:03:47 +0000 http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141365 Also true for ships-- you've got to deliver it from the dock. At present, freight is heavily truck dependent-- as you no doubt saw when driving the freeways of the west. That will change, impacting our economy. Also true for ships– you’ve got to deliver it from the dock.

At present, freight is heavily truck dependent– as you no doubt saw when driving the freeways of the west. That will change, impacting our economy.

]]> By: Bob Morris http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141364 Bob Morris Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:40:43 +0000 http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141364 Rail helps for much of the journey, but then how do you get the freight from the rr terminal to wherever it needs to be without trucks. Rail helps for much of the journey, but then how do you get the freight from the rr terminal to wherever it needs to be without trucks.

]]> By: DJ http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141363 DJ Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:20:35 +0000 http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141363 The pricing problem is indeed there-- but those tansportation methods with higher fuel consumption will suffer more. Consider: A diesel truck burns 3,083 BTU per ton-mile. Rail burns only 344 BTU per ton-mile. Vessel burns 417 BTU per ton-mile. So trucking is far more susceptible to fuel price increases than the other two. Conversely, artificially low fuel prices have supported the growth of the trucking industry, which is more convenient but far less efficient. The pricing problem is indeed there– but those tansportation methods with higher fuel consumption will suffer more. Consider:

A diesel truck burns 3,083 BTU per ton-mile.
Rail burns only 344 BTU per ton-mile.
Vessel burns 417 BTU per ton-mile.

So trucking is far more susceptible to fuel price increases than the other two.

Conversely, artificially low fuel prices have supported the growth of the trucking industry, which is more convenient but far less efficient.

]]> By: Bob Morris http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141360 Bob Morris Thu, 06 Sep 2007 17:38:51 +0000 http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141360 Unless rail can run on something other than oil, the pricing problem will still be there. Unless rail can run on something other than oil, the pricing problem will still be there.

]]> By: DJ http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141354 DJ Thu, 06 Sep 2007 16:19:53 +0000 http://polizeros.com/2007/09/06/the-long-emergency-by-james-howard-kunstler/#comment-141354 It's not quite that simple. It actually takes less oil to send goods to Boston from Hong Kong by ship than to truck it from California. So the first industries to be hit will not be global ones, they will be national, with trucking directly in the crosshairs. Sure, many companies will switch to rail transit. But in 2004, the U.S. employed 2.8 million truck drivers. That's a lot of people to become unemployed. It’s not quite that simple. It actually takes less oil to send goods to Boston from Hong Kong by ship than to truck it from California. So the first industries to be hit will not be global ones, they will be national, with trucking directly in the crosshairs. Sure, many companies will switch to rail transit. But in 2004, the U.S. employed 2.8 million truck drivers. That’s a lot of people to become unemployed.

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