The Gospel According to Matthew

For more than twenty years, an extremely successful Houston investment
banker has been trying to convince the world that the end (of oil) is nigh.
Now that people are finally starting to listen, is it too late?

The Coronado Club, in downtown Houston, is an unlikely place to contemplate
the end of life as we know it. Plush and hushed, with solemn black waiters
in crisp black jackets, the private enclave practically exudes wealth and
stability. Captains of local industry enter and exit purposefully,
commanding their usual tables, wearing the best suits. Everybody knows
everybody else. The light is flattering. The wine room is nicely stocked.

But here is Matthew R. Simmons, the head of one of the largest investment
banking firms in the world, stabbing at his salad greens and heatedly
discussing the chaos to come when, as he has long predicted, global oil
production peaks and for the rest of our time on earth we struggle and
suffer and barely endure under a diminishing supply of fuel until it
disappears entirely. This idea is known as “peak oil,” and Simmons is its
most fervent, and fearsome, apostle. As he puts it, “I don’t see why people
are so worried about global warming destroying the planet

Slashing through his entree, barely stopping for breath, he describes a
bleak future, in which demand for oil will always surpass supply, the price
will continue to rise