Transition from our current fuel-fed growth paradigm to a steady-state, renewable-energy future will likely be very difficult.

Humanity will get there one way or another: resource limits ensure that. We simply want to make the transition easier, fairer, and more survivable for all concerned.

SHOOT: It will take this generation and possibly the next just to 'get' the idea that our whole system has to be overhauled. Most people out there think this is a temporary flux, a blip, a cycle or some other nonsense. It will take time for reality to seep through the botox, the soapies, the spray on tan, to permeate the tv glow and the lycra. But eventually, of course, it will.

clipped from www.voltairenet.org Voltaire Network: What should be the priority in terms of public decision-making? Preparing for the energy crisis or climate change? Richard Heinberg: In many respects, the solutions to both problems are similar: reduce fossil fuel dependency, and increase renewable energy production. However some proposed solutions to the climate crisis make no sense in light of fossil fuel supply limits. An example is the capture and storage of carbon from coal-fired power plants. We face a global food crisis that is entirely foreseeable, and whose causes are obvious. The needed policies are also obvious: we must reform our entire food system so as to reduce its reliance on fuel. We believe that life can in fact be better without fossil fuels, and without continual growth in population and consumption. But the transition from our current fuel-fed growth paradigm to a steady-state, renewable-energy future will likely be very difficult.