The Next Reformation (Paul Hawken interview)

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The Next Reformation

... sample snip ...

At the same time, the globalization of the world economy is really due to the fact that energy has become increasingly less expensive for 119 years. Since oil was discovered, there have been some little price blips on the screen, but in constant dollars, energy is cheaper now per BTU than it ever has been in the history of the world. And at some point that will turn the other way. Interestingly, the oil companies know very well that in less than 30 years they will not only be charging very high prices, but that they will be uncompetitive with renewables.

When energy prices do go up and start to reflect their replacement value, you will also see some weakening of global transnational corporations. That's because their advantage comes overwhelmingly from centralization and mass production, and those things depend on distribution and transportation networks that are basically cheaper than local systems.



-- Scott (lynx5_5@hotmail.com), April 19, 2000

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