The Writing on the Latrine Walls
In Iraq, to find out how the soldiers feel about the war and the Bush administration, you only need to read the walls inside the latrines.
In Iraq, to find out how the soldiers feel about the war and the Bush administration, you only need to read the walls inside the latrines.
If you think you’re paying too much at the petrol bowser now, brace yourself. An expert from one of the most oil-rich countries in the world says the price per litre could soon more than double, and he says that’s his conservative estimate.
Certainly the leaders of both American political parties know about Peak Oil, including Kerry/Edwards, yet public discussion is off the table.
Is it possible that we are about to run short of the source of a third of the world’s energy?
Asia’s economies have been able to withstand this year’s surge in oil prices but the relentless climb is starting to take its toll and high growth rates are now in jeopardy, analysts said.
Mark Braly reports from the German Government’s Renewables 2004 conference in Bonn, that “something else, not new but more urgently felt, was in the air at the conference. The expert consensus now holds that the peak of world oil production is near – if it has not already happened.”
Although the former Soviet Union has pumped crude for years, only recently has Russia emerged as the world’s second-biggest oil exporter and — if the Bush administration has its way — a potentially important new supplier of both oil and gas to the United States. Russia’s crude oil production rivals that of Saudi Arabia, and analysts say its reserves could provide the output answer for the United States, China, South Korea and Japan, which have grown increasingly wary of their dependence on producers in the Middle East.
No oil company wants to be the first to face stock market meltdown by announcing their production is in decline, no government wants to be voted out for such bad news.
One expert has picked an Armageddon date for the peak of oil production: Thanksgiving 2005. The slow decline in world supplies will start then.
Surprise! We’re in the midst of an oil shock and its impact could be as nasty as the first three, writes David Potts.
The doomsayers say they will stabilise at $70; the optimists argue they will tumble to $15. Outlook examines arguments on both sides of the oil divide.
Jim Puplava: Welcome everyone. Joining me on the program today is Richard Heinberg. He has been writing about energy resource issues and the dynamics of cultural change for many years. He’s a member of the core faculty at New College of California and he’s an award-winning author of three previous books. His last book is called The Party is Over; his newsletter was nominated for the best alternative newsletter award; his new book is called Power Down: Options and Actions for a Post -Carbon World.