The Peak Oil Crisis: The GAO Report

Suppose the GAO staff really had studied and debated the evidence and concluded, as others have, that world oil production has already plateaued if not peaked. Suppose, they went on to say it is unlikely that world oil production will ever again increase significantly and that when you throw in all geopolitical factors – wars, insurgencies, expropriations, bad governments – the amount of oil available for importing countries is likely to drop sharply very soon.

If they were in a candid mood, the GAO could have added “and by the way, kiss any expectations of robust economic growth you might have goodbye.” It simply is not going to happen for a long, long while.
The GAO could make an even bigger splash by convincing the president to go on prime time tell the American people that all available evidence leads to the conclusion that, soon, gasoline will be too expensive for them to afford. They should immediately sell their gas guzzlers, put their over-mortgaged houses on the market, stop using credit cards, dump all their stocks, and plant a garden.

For obvious reasons no president will ever make such a speech. Despite quiet preparations for peak oil in many countries around the world, no national leader has as yet said anything similar – the consequences are simply too unpredictable.

For equally obvious reasons, no responsible government agency will ever officially conclude that serious economic problems are coming soon for the immediate consequences could be needlessly severe. Those who had hoped the GAO report would once and for all confirm that peak oil theory was right and that world oil production was hovering at the edge of a collapse were bound to be disappointed.

Falls Church News Press