G20 leaders ignore the burning issue

ONE topic not mentioned in the reports from the G20 meeting in Toronto last week was energy or how the “growth revival” proposed for the world economies was going to be fuelled in an era of ever-dwindling resources.

=All the capital finance instruments, namely securities and bonds, and all the financial paper in the industrial world, is essentially based on the increasing accumulation of wealth driven in parallel by a growing demand for fossil fuels.

The high standard of living we’ve built by gorging on cheap oil is set to decline, if it’s not already doing so. At what stage the terrifying implications of this geological fact enter human consciousness is debatable, but German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer described all truth as passing through three stages.

First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

I would say the truth about our energy predicament is at stage two, give or take a few mental and physical subtleties. But waiting until the geological truth becomes self-evident is definitely not an option.

It was very irresponsible therefore for the leaders of so many oil-dependent economies not to discuss the impending energy dilemma, along with the implications it has for the future of humanity. They only hit on ways to revive the “dead parrot” global financial system, something that can best be described as a flimsy universal pyramid scheme or casino activity. This huge energy dilemma we face is still only in “dire prediction” stage with the real crunch looming fast on the horizon. We must act now to prevent such a nightmare from becoming reality and direct all actions and strategies towards the transition to a low-carbon, renewable energy economy.

John Fitzgerald

Fahee

Kilmacow

Co Kilkenny