Markets - Farmers say weather-delayed plantings will mean gaps later in the season The buy-local crowd was out in force for the 20th annual opening of the Beaverton Farmers Market on Saturday. Shoppers could fill their recyclable grocery bags with an array of spring vegetables or tote away hanging baskets of summer... (read more)

For more than a decade, English petroleum geologist Colin Campbell has been sounding the warning bell about the coming of peak oil and its disturbing ramifications for the world. Since 2005 Dr. Robert Hirsch has been giving specific warnings for the United States through a series of Department of Energy-sponsored... (read more)

Most Think Price Will Go Much Higher Americans Think Their Government Is Acting as if Oil Will Not Run Out Full report (PDF) Questionnaire/methodology(PDF) A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll finds that majorities in 15 of 16 nations surveyed around the world think that oil is running out and governments should make a major effort... (read more)

I 'm with Joyce Kilmer -- "I think that I shall never see/ A poem lovely as a tree." I'm even with city Commissioner Dan Saltzman, who recently waxed poetical before the Portland City Council on the "incredible" "show-stopping" trees growing in Portland. But before I could recall the last lines... (read more)

Good-Bye, Cheap Oil. So Long, Suburbia? Author James Kunstler says the Automotive Age is almost history and deconstructs McMansion living by Mara Der Hovanesian The suburban landscape has been marred by foreclosures and half-built communities abandoned in the subprime aftermath. But James Howard Kunstler, author of a dozen books, including The Geography of... (read more)

Getting to 'green' without the rails Friday, April 25, 2008 The Oregonian Many Portlanders assume that spending more money on public transportation will help save energy. But in 1979, a University of California at Irvine economist by the name of Charles Lave showed in an article published in The... (read more)

Note: Dr. Fatih Birol is Chief Economist and Head of the Economic Analysis Division of the Paris-based International Energy Agency. He is organiser and director of the World Energy Outlook series, the IEA’s flagship publication. He is also responsible for providing regular briefing to the Executive Director and Governing Board... (read more)

It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to... (read more)

Ross C. Powell has found a novel way to counter rising grocery prices. He started an informal food cooperative out of his garage. The San Antonio project manager is currently stocking up on inexpensive beef, anticipating meat prices will follow dairy, egg and grain prices higher. "It's a hedging strategy," says... (read more)

In a bid to speed innovation, the foundation plans awards for breakthroughs in biofuels and other alternative-energy fields The X Prize Foundation made its name handing out $10 million awards for cutting-edge innovation in promising but thinly financed fields of research. But now the Santa Monica (Calif.) foundation is targeting one... (read more)

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Fuel Choices, Food Crises and Finger-Pointing By ANDREW MARTIN Published: April 15, 2008 The idea of turning farms into fuel plants seemed, for a time, like one of the answers to high global oil prices and supply worries. That strategy seemed to reach a high point last year when Congress mandated a fivefold... (read more)

As oil prices hit $117 a barrel this month, a forecast from Shell Oil outlines two very different possibilities for the future of the world's energy supply. Looking out to the year 2050, Shell strategist Jeremy Bentham says demand will go up, while oil supplies will be harder to find.... (read more)

http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=81168353 U.S. ethanol industry favors corn, but other alternatives may be better Renee Schoof Apr 20, 2008 (McClatchy Newspapers - McClatchy-Tribune News Service via COMTEX) -- The nation's new energy law means that corn is likely to rule the U.S. ethanol industry for years, but soaring food prices and questions about whether corn-for-fuel... (read more)

An area of shale and other rock in North Dakota and Montana is estimated to hold the largest potential oil resources in the 48 contiguous states, according to an assessment released Thursday by the United States Geological Survey. The area, known as the Bakken Formation, might contain 3 billion to 4.3... (read more)

Richard Heinberg gave this speech while he attended a conference in Scotland. It is his latest thoughts on a power-down scenario. It is an excellent overview of the post peak oil world situation to date. A must-read. You can find it through the ff. URL http://www.energybulletin.net/42427.html Or read here from... (read more)

SUNNYVALE, California: Call it an eco-parable: one Prius-driving couple take pride in their eight redwoods, the first of them planted over a decade ago. Their electric-car-driving neighbors take pride in their rooftop solar panels, installed five years after the first trees were planted. Trees - redwoods, live oaks or blossoming fruit... (read more)

Apparently the actual report is not online at this time, but here is some commentary. Nice-to-know data, but to complete the picture we need a report on life-cycle toxicity of mining, manufacture, and disposal. The use of cadmium in the favored manufacturing process is troubling. ------------------------------------------------------- How much does solar power pollute? When... (read more)

For the first time since 1980, when long lines sprouted at gasoline stations, Americans are beginning to cut down on their driving. The slight decline in total miles driven – apparent first in December – may indicate that the twin forces of high gasoline prices and a struggling economy are starting... (read more)

If you are taking a trip, perhaps you have considered purchasing an offset for the carbon that your airplane will emit. Or maybe you wish to offset the pollution from your car, or home. There are many carbon offset services to compare. But only one of them... (read more)

Energy policies and technologies that can get us on the path toward a sustainable future (plus a few that won’t). 13 Best Energy Ideas. YES! Magazine graphic YES! MAGAZINE GRAPHIC, 2008. Investments in energy projects will total $16 trillion in the next two decades. That investment—along with spending for long-lived buildings, transportation, manufacturing,... (read more)

Why EROI matters By Charles Hall State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse New York Making investment decisions Society usually makes its economic decisions, at least those not predicated by personal greed at the expense of others or strictly political considerations, on economic analysis and most explicitly via either non... (read more)

[Ed - Abridged. See full original article via link at bottom] Photographer: Sverre Koxvold On the last day of the [Findhorn Foundation's Positive Energy] Conference, Richard Heinberg was warmly welcomed back for his second presentation. Last night he gave us 'Peak Everything: Waking Up to the Century of Declines.' Now that... (read more)

This kinda thing pretty much dashes any hope I have that humans will stop their suicidal run for the global warming cliff. ... (read more)

Note: This is an OPINION piece, by the author. It's valuable to hear all the sides of a debate, yes? Comments by readers can be found at this url, and are worth reading. Many energy analysts view the ongoing waltz of crude prices with the mystical $100 mark... (read more)