Beyond the gas
drought

John Reid, who blogs at Blackjay, takes a longer view of energy supplies and their future than the current shortage of gas. Looking much, much further ahead he writes:

Wars and/or revolutions are inevitable once the man-in-the-street is severely affected by the coming energy famine.  The first symptoms are beginning to appear. Vladimir Putin is already using the EU’s energy problems to leverage his imperial ambitions in Eastern Europe and a harvest collapse in Sri Lanka has led to civil unrest and the re-introduction of imported fertilisers. This “reset” may not lead to  “blood in the streets” but it will lead to the rapid dissolution of some socio-economic structures none-the-less.

We must endeavour to manage these changes with reason and integrity and, as far as possible, for the benefit of all. Heaven forbid that any of the plethora of ideologues, now so vocal in the media and on the Internet, should finish up calling the shots.

His post, ‘Managing Austerity’, can be read in full here.