Insight and inspiration in turbulent times.
To sum up… despite their rosy views on reserves and oil production, the Economist acknowledges that energy is a vital issue and that the current status quo on oil is unsustainable: Western majors are running out of oil and, even if there is enough as they claim in the Persian Gulf countries, it is going to present major geopolitical and economical problems to bring all the oil currently burnt in the US to the consumers.
Consider President Jimmy Carter’s April 18, 1977 speech….It was the speech that established the strategic petroleum reserve, birthed the modern solar power industry, led to the insulation of millions of American homes, and established America’s first national energy policy. “With the exception of preventing war,” said Jimmy Carter, a man of peace, “this is the greatest challenge our country will face during our lifetimes.”
KLARE: …in 30 or 40 years, oil may be gone entirely and we have plenty of time to worry about that. But sooner than then… oil is not going to be as available as it used to be in the past. …the hardships from declining oil are with us now and they’re only going to get worse.
Wind farms, while necessary, are a classic example of what environmentalists call an “end-of-the-pipe solution”. Instead of tackling the problem – our massive demand for energy – at source, they provide less damaging means of accommodating it.
One of the world’s leading energy analysts yesterday called for an independent assessment of global oil reserves because he believed that Middle Eastern countries may have far less than officially stated and that oil prices could double to more than $100 a barrel within three years, triggering economic collapse.
Low-key interviews with a petroleum geologist and an environmental editor. (Audio)
The world’s oil reserves are running out much faster than industry and governments are admitting, a conference in Edinburgh has been told.
In a long interview, Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki talks about Peak Oil.
A more obvious example of the Quicksand Effect is the present method of garnering oil by force of arms. This policy burns huge amounts of precious oil, sinking us deeper and ever more rapidly. Why is the US behaving like a dinosaur stuck in a tar pit? The harder we try, the more we sink. The faster we run, the more distant our goal
There is a huge propaganda push by the nuclear industry to justify nuclear power as a panacea for the reduction of global-warming gases.
Nuclear waste is an unsolved problem, plant meltdowns are themselves environmentally disastrous, and nuclear material can be used to nefarious and horrifying ends. But if we see climate change as the No. 1 environmental emergency, nuclear energy must, at least, be given a fair hearing. Thus, despite the fact that contemplating it makes me feel like Dick Cheney, we will return to this fissile topic anon.
Transcript of Rep. Roscoe Bartlett’s speech on Peak Oil to the House of Representatives April 20.
