HUMANIST SOCIETY OF WEST YORKSHIRE
Affiliated to the British Humanist Association

NEWSLETTER (118), JUNE 2009

Report on the meeting held in Swarthmore on 2nd June 2009:

11 members of the HSWY attended the meeting and 12 people from The Leeds Transition Group http//transitiontowns.org swelled this number to 23. The speaker was Professor Colin Campbell from The Department of Sociology at York University and the subject was

The Challenge Of Peak Oil

Our new Chairman, Paul Dean, thanked Paul Irving for carrying out the duties of Chairman over the last few years. The Chairman also said that Leeds Council would include Humanists at the newly formed ‘Faith Hub’ meetings, which will convene 4 times/ a year. Volunteers are needed and Gerry Hannant showed some interest. The speaker began his talk by asking how many people new what the term Peak Oil meant. A surprising number were familiar with its meaning which is:- The maximum oil that can be extracted economically from the earth. That time is most likely now. Demand is still growing; OEC countries use about 17 barrels/head whilst countries such as China and India use only 2 barrels/head. These developing economies aspire to our standards of living so demand will continue to rise whilst supply keeps falling. Other hydrocarbons are also running out, alternative fuels all have their problems so a real crisis looms in the not too distant future and politicians seem afraid to face up to it. At least 150,000 different products are made from oil and which are generally bad for the environment. Most marine organisms contain plastic ‘Biodegradable’ plastics, do not degrade at normal temperatures. In future we will have to develop a completely different infrastructure. The price of food is very dependent on oil, so we can expect food prices to keep on rising. Even the last rise in oil caused food riots and armed guards were placed around paddy fields. China is buying up parts of Africa to ensure a supply of food. We all remember the Green Revolution between the 1950’s and 80’s when there were butter mountains and farmers were paid not to produce food; that was by using massive amounts of fertilisers and intensive irrigation - all dependent on oil. Shortage of water will also become a problem, 40% of food is provided by irrigation and it takes 1000 tons of water to provide 1 ton of grain. Much of this water comes from deep in the ground and has accumulated over millennia. All this means that the modern industrial global agricultural system is unsustainable. Though the future looks gloomy it is possible to arrange our economies differently. Both Cuba and North Korea have had their oil supplies cut off and Cuba has managed its economy reasonably successfully. There is much we can do as individuals such as ditching our cars, stop flying and more controversially, stop having children. We should dig up our lawns and grow our own food and encouraged our governments to move to an economy that is not dependant on growth. That would be a major change, which would cause massive unemployment, but we should work share and have lots more leisure time. Fashion is a major problem, and most products are not built to last. We all need to heed the words of Edmund Burke “Nobody made a bigger mistake than he who did nothing because he could only do a little“.. Everyone agreed that Professor Campbell’s talk had been most thought-provoking and it was well received. (Report by Brian Layfield)

Quote of the Month. “All over the world the Catholic Church is raising and shaking its finger at a sinful world. It needs to understand that sometimes the world will want to raise a finger back.” Andrew Brown, Church Times.

Diary; meetings, unless indicated otherwise, are at Swarthmore at 7.30 (coffee from 7.00 in the Café).

NB the next Newsletter will be the October edition out towards the end of September.