I’m finally getting back to BT after getting absorbed into my new job at Techrigy where I’m spending a lot of time in social media. It’s fascinating to see the evolution taking place from a techie novelty to an entire sea change on the web. But that’s not what this thing is about…

There’s a major set of changes taking place, driven by rising energy costs, so many changes that it’s hard to comment on all of them. The first change is directly related to that: press coverage of climate and energy issues is far more widespread and far more critical than in the past. Finally. The cost of fuel is the biggest story for 2008, eclipsing the election. It is bigger because it is going to drive many people’s decisions about many fundamental things including who runs our country. This election is Barry Obama’s to lose- if he can’t beat McCain he probably can’t run the country.

But what I really want to talk about is space, not outer space; the space we live in, our space. Americans have always taken space for granted and accumulation of space is a sign of prosperity. We moved out of crowded cities into more spacious homes in the burbs with big lawns. We drove ever larger and more luxurious cars. Travel to far off places was the norm as we became more affluent.

Poverty on the other hand was denoted by a lack of space. Tiny crowded apartments. No privacy. Being unable to afford a car or travel expenses means that poor people seldom leave their neighborhoods- meaning they live within a proscribed world, more of an ancient village than a global community.

We have space because of two things: We’re a very large country and we had cheap fuel. We’re still an enormous country but it’s gotten a lot more expensive to get around, to heat big houses and to commute to suburban office parks. A lot of people are rethinking their desire for space.

What this tells me is that we’re going to be living in a lot closer proximity to each other, riding together in carpools and on public transport and living close enough to our neighbors to actually need to get to know them. I hope this brings about a greater sense of shared purpose and a lessening of the terrible divide between the haves and have nots of our world.