In recent months we've seen a spate of assertions that peak oil is a
worry of the past thanks to so-called "new technologies" that can tap
massive amounts of previously inaccessible stores of "unconventional"
oil. "Don't worry, drive on," we're told.
We can fall for the oil
industry hype and keep ourselves chained to a resource that's depleting
and comes with ever increasing economic and environmental costs, or we
can recognize that the days of cheap and abundant oil (not to mention
coal and natural gas) are over.
Quote of the Day
"And so the fact that really caught me and made me sit up and take notice
is this one: somebody who is 22 years old today has been alive since
half of all the oil ever has been burned. So what happens in the next 22
years, and how about the 22 years after that?
This is a story, if
you’re thinking anywhere further than just the next month or the next
quarter, if you’re in charge of endowments, pensions, if you’re a leader
of a country, you’re a planner of a community, if you just happen to be
a concerned individual.
I think if you stretch your view out just into
these next couple of decades, there’s enough there to make you say,
OOH!, maybe there’s some risks here, maybe there’s some modifications,
maybe there’s some things we can do, should be doing, consider doing,
that would make a lot of sense in this environment….
Planning for the future … what a concept!"
Chris Martenson
