Peak experience

Standing on the steps of City Hall, New College professor Richard Heinberg told a crowd of San Franciscans, “The 21st century will be the decline of fossil fuels.” This renowned expert on “peak oil” then headed inside to testify at a hearing convened by Sup. Ross Mirkarimi on the issue.

Chief among the myriad troubling facts and statistics was Heinberg’s prediction that world oil production will peak around 2010 or 2011. US production peaked in the 1970s, but that barely affected the country’s skyrocketing oil consumption patterns. Even the recent dollar per gallon jump in gasoline prices has yet to significantly slow the rapid approach of the inevitable end of the age of oil.

Contrasting his research with that of global warming, Heinberg said, “Peak oil is not a theory. It’s something we’ve been observing for 30 years.”

Because of unabated rises in population and oil demand, plus escalating conflict over what little petroleum reserves remain, the United States can expect a continued increase in price and decrease in the comfort and security that 100 years of cheap petroleum have allowed.

San Francisco Bay Guardian