sorry, no gas
Posted by admin on 24 Aug 2008 at 05:19 am | Tagged as: peak oil
A new blog about peak oil, at http://sorrynogas.blogspot.com.
Oil is everything. That is to say, everything in the modern world is dependent on oil. From oil and other hydrocarbons we get fuel, fertilizer, pesticides, lubricants, plastic, paint, synthetic fabrics, asphalt, pharmaceuticals, and many other things. On a more abstract level, we are dependent on oil and other hydrocarbons for manufacturing, for transportation, for agriculture, for mining, and for electricity. When oil goes, our entire industrial society will go with it. There will be no means of supporting the billions of people who now live on this planet. Above all, there will be insufficient food.
Perhaps the most common response to the peak-oil problem is: “The oil isn’t going to disappear overnight. We have a century to prepare.” Unfortunately, the fact that the decline in oil is a curve, not a vertical line, makes it difficult to comprehend. What matters is that the serious damage will be done long before we get to those tiny remaining drops a century or so from now.
The same statement, “We have a century to prepare,” also raises the question: Who is the “we” here? All human beings? A small group of dedicated survivalists? If the answer is the former, then the statement may be false: humanity, as a whole, is not good at making decisions. The human race, taken in its entirety, is not inclined to behave in such a sophisticated manner; human beings sometimes prefer ignorance, superstition, cruelty, and intolerance.
Indeed, we need to stop burning oil now (in fact some years ago, when it first looked like it may upset the claimatic balance).
