Friday, April 4, 2014

Resource crisis ("Extracted" no more)



The blog "Extracted", formerly "Cassandra's Legacy," changes name today to "Resource Crisis". I apologize for flip-flopping in this way: it was just a few weeks ago that I had changed the name to "Extracted". Unfortunately, I found that "Extracted" had big problems. One was that several people hated it but, mainly, as I started using it, I found that it caused considerable confusion with the book of the same name. So, really, a change was in order.

After much mulling over the matter in my head I thought that the best choice was "Resource Crisis." As a name, I admit, it is a bit flat. But it simple, clear, and it immediately focuses the attention on what I think is the main problem we are facing: resource depletion (including the capability of the Earth's atmosphere to withstand human CO2 emissions).

In addition, the term "crisis" also suggests an opportunity for change. Despite the generally doomerish atmosphere of many posts published here, I don't see myself as a catastrophist". I agree that it is surely too late to avoid most of the damage that we are going to see as the result our reckless behavior. But I also believe that there is life after the age of fossil fuels. What kind of life that will be, is all to be seen, but I wouldn't lose hope that we can survive the crisis and even prosper afterwards. This is the basic subject of this blog.

So, thanks to all of those who sent suggestions to me about the new name although, of course, in the end, I needed to make a choice. Now, hopefully, the name of the blog should not change again. Also, for the time being the address of the blog remains the old one www.cassandralegacy.blogspot.com.



Actually, as you may have imagined, the real reason for the change of name is that Cassandra in person appeared to me in a dream and she told me that she hated the idea that, with the "Extracted" title, the blog with her name had become something that sounded like a site on dentistry. By agreeing on her request while kneeling in front of her and putting ashes on my head, I was able to avoid a horrible curse cast on me. And, very kindly, the prophetess didn't insist on having her name reinstated but she blessed the new name of "Resource Crisis". Below, you can see the angry Cassandra shouting insults at me. You would have changed the name of the blog, too! (painting by Frederick Sandys, 1829 – 1904)






Note: there is another web site called "resource crisis", also dedicated to mineral depletion, in particular of crude oil . It originates from Saudi Arabia and it is in Arabic, so I think there is no problem of competition or of overlap. From what I could gather from google translating it, it seems to be a very interesting site. Recommended for those who are fluent in Arabic.



Who

Ugo Bardi is a member of the Club of Rome, faculty member of the University of Florence, and the author of "Extracted" (Chelsea Green 2014), "The Seneca Effect" (Springer 2017), and Before the Collapse (Springer 2019)