[fiedag]

The South Australian state parliament have voted to convene a parliamentary select committee to investigate peak oil.

This is a welcome development, but unfortunately it is not getting a lot of media attention here. it doesn't help that the initiator is an ultra-progressive senator recently pilloried for her pro-Ecstasy (the drug) stance.

Her terms of reference are drafted in a pretty narrow and prescriptive way, (i.e. increase public transport and how). I am preparing a submission which will address the terms of reference anyway.

However I plan to also add an essay dealing with the matter in a more general and comprehensive way. I am going to take them at their word and believe they really want to listen to what people have to say. It's not entirely ludicrous...

I have decided to envision the "best possible future" for South Australia. A picture of the world in 2028.

In this future, the rest of the world has undergone many traumas and indignities. However South Australia stands out as one of the few regions of the world which has made a truly inspired transition.

Planners and leaders from all over the world come to learn the secret of how to adapt to a low-energy world and still remain a liberal democracy.

At the moment I grant that this is not a realistic speculation.

Yet I plan to present a retrospective from this future. A view in the rear view mirror, of what decisions the people of SA made.

What corrections and adjustments did they make to their laws, attitudes, and living arrangements?

Who were the players? Who were the antagonists? What were the sacrifices? The high dramas? Who were the losers? What are the tensions which remain?


Now I could do with some help.

If someone has a perspective on this, feel free to write. I think that Australians themselves sometimes don't have the best perspective so overseas input is welcomed.