In the well-meaning article below Peak Oil is described as 'controversial'. This shows the extent of our ignorance and our stupidity (unless you want to call it a lack of imagination, a failure to discern or Attention deficit Disorder).
Not everyone is in the dark though as JK's comment testifies:
"...what heinberg, kunstler, et al say (this movie says it too) — that what we have to worry about is not ‘no oil’ but expensive oil because everything is built on a cheap oil system..."
And when that resource, or any resource, is limited, and a population has limitless demands, and unlimited consumption, well you're going to see prices go through the roof not sooner OR later, sooner AND later.
Peak oil — the concept that oil production will crest and then decline, leading to all sorts of trouble in society — is of course a controversial topic, and the associated movement of so-called doomers attracts its share of ridicule. In a recent book, Global Catastrophes and Trends: The Next 50 Years (MIT Press, 2008), Vaclav Smil, an energy expert at the University of Manitoba, says that the alarmism of peak-oil proponents is “based on a lack of nuanced understanding of the human quest for energy” that disregards economics, innovation, and adaptability. (In his book, he seems more concerned about human interference in the global nitrogen cycle, water shortages, loss of biodiversity, and soil erosion — all of which affect agriculture, by the way.) Planning for a post-oil era is at least a prudent thing to do.
Peak Oil is a bit of a red herring. — Jeff Steuben Apr 1, 12:00 PM |
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