[Peakoil] Cheap gas will overtake renewables, energy chief warns

[Keith Thomas]

It's only "cheap" because our society (and, hence, our economy) regards resources extracted from the natural world as free and that damage to the natural world done in their extraction, processing, use, disposal and "making good" as without cost to the producer. Even products that are known to cause human health hazards (such as radiation from leaking Fukushima reactors, oil from BP's oil spill, dubious pharmaceuticals), are costed to us, the public, through taxation - not to the companies that took the risks, cut the corners and caused the damage. Yes, they get away with murder.

The obvious way to handle issues like this is for these "externalities" to be paid for by the miners and manufacturers. Risks that are uncertain, should be covered in full by unlimited liability insurance cover - without which it should be illegal for the processes to commence. Such insurance cover should also be mandatory for GM foods.

Capitalism is a system designed to turn natural resources and the biosphere into toxic, useless products in what is, geologically, the twinkling of an eye.
-----------------------------
Keith Thomas
www.evfit.com
-----------------------------

On 04/06/2011, at 6:39 PM, Alex Pollard wrote:

The cheap gas comes from shale and coal seams so is "cheap" if the effects
of tremors, flammable toxic ground-water and so on are ignored.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/30/renewables-overtaken-cheap-gas-energy


Alex
O4O4873828
ACT Peak Oil Inc.