Experts debate fall in oil production

WALNUT CREEK, CA – After a century of rapid, petroleum-fueled growth of industry and motor vehicle travel, the world drinks from an oil cup that will soon be half-empty. Some say it already it is.

That was the message delivered Wednesday night to an audience of 60 people gathered in a church nestled in a Walnut Creek hillside. They listened politely as two speakers readily agreed that an era of cheap and abundant oil would soon end but disputed how best to prepare.

One byproduct of petroleum-based growth has been the sprawl of suburbs — like those in the East Bay — where residents rely on private gasoline-burning automobiles for travel to work, school and shopping. “It takes an awful lot of fossil fuel to maintain this lifestyle,” said Natylie Baldwin, who organized the forum for the Mt. Diablo Peace and Justice Center.

How much? Daily consumption of petroleum products reached a record 20.7 million barrels a day in 2004, up 24 percent over three decades, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Since petroleum replaced oil from whales as a leading fuel source, producers have worried less about shortages than about flooding the market with petroleum products and driving down prices, Richard Heinberg told the audience. “It was easy to get addicted to the stuff,” added Heinberg, a teacher at the New College of California and author of “The Party’s Over: Energy Resources and the Fate of Industrial Societies.”

Contra Costa Times