The Era of Cheap Oil is Over: Our Future Security Demands Action NOW!

http://www.marketwatch.com/video/asset/age-of-cheap-oil-is-over-ieas-chief-economist-2010-12-03/31EFD8AD-1CAC-4CD3-BC39-624C1AC8E4F0#!31EFD8AD-1CAC-4CD3-BC39-624C1AC8E4F0
International Energy Agency Chief Economist Fatih Birol tells MarketWatch's Steve Goldstein that the era of cheap oil is OVER and that we are close to the dangerous 2 degree temperature increase point, at which erratic weather, with unpredictable synergistic effects, occurs...

The environmental challenges we face--scarce oil, scarce fresh water, and erratic weather--could destroy our civilizations (if we can call them that). Jared Diamond's Collapse documents previous societies fatal over-reach and subsequent decay and deterioration...

On the job's front, see Washington's Blog, which comments on David Stockman's recent short, but important, interview. Stockman claims the jobs situation is much worse than publicly acknowledged and that 2/3 of the few jobs created in the last year make $20,000 on average. This is no recipe for recovery...
http://georgewashington2.blogspot.com/2010/12/david-stockman-only-job-growth-in-last.html

Of course, if you look at the environmental picture you realize that a recovery of the recent past is probably not possible and surely not sustainable.

What we need to do is redirect societal resources away from war (1/3 or more of federal resources) and corrupt banks/corporations (e.g., Ethanol subsidies) towards providing public transport, health and basic assistance, and local agricultural capacity-building so that our transition to what is coming doesn't destroy lives and whole communities...