Coast To Coast AM - 21.9.2011 - 1/4 - Peak Oil / Saudi Arabia & 9/11

MP3 www.4shared.com Guests: Richard Heinberg, Craig Hulet Peak Oil: In the first half of the program, leading educator on Peak Oil, the point at which we reach maximum global oil production, Richard Heinberg, talked about the devastating impact it will have on our economic, food, and transport systems. Heinberg speculated that the world is either at this point or "very close to it," because "high prices and increasing demands don't seem to be budging supply very much." He said that the dire straits of oil production can also be seen in how energy companies have exhausted the easier "low hanging fruit" reserves and are now faced with extracting oil with increasingly more expensive, slow, and environmentally hazardous locations and means. Beyond just oil, Heinberg warned that other forms of fuel are also in danger of reaching their peak. On a local level, he explained that merely producing a meal requires extensive use of gas to transport the food, coal powered electricity to refrigerate it, and natural gas to cook it. This current journey from farm to plate, he said, requires a staggering 7 to 10 calories of fossil fuel energy for every 1 calorie of food consumed. At the point where the world reaches peak oil, Heinberg foresees a gradual decline in production that will cause a panic from the financial systems around the globe. In order to better prepare for this grim future, Heinberg suggested that the United States begin training people to manufacture and repair goods as ...

MP3 www.4shared.com Guests: Robert Zimmerman, Open Lines Climategate: Filling in for George Noory, John B. Wells hosted space historian Robert Zimmerman, in the first half of the program, for a discussion about Climategate and other science-related issues. Zimmerman contended that Climategate was the "perfect example" of scientists distorting data to come to conclusions that were preferable to their research community. He pointed to money as the key factor which drove Climategate, since climate research is fueled by multi-billion dollar grants issued from various governments around the world. Additionally, Zimmerman surmised that misplaced "good intentions" have clouded the judgement of climate researchers who are adamant that global warming is an imminent danger to the planet. Regarding the aftermath of the controversy, Zimmerman lamented that, rather than punish the scientists involved in the disputed findings, the research community "spent the next two years whitewashing those scientists that had committed that fraud." He called this turn of event the "biggest tragedy" of the scandal, since it undermines the public trust in not only the climate research community, but also the scientific establishment as a whole. Chillingly, Zimmerman warned that, in light of our culture's overhwelming reliance on science as a foundation for human knowledge, "if we don't trust our scientists or they become untrustworthy, then we're in big trouble." Going forward, Zimmerman shared some ...