Surviving the end of the oil age

Like many individuals, James Howard Kunstler becomes frustrated every time he sees prices rise at the gas station.

The Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy kicked off their third Distinguished Speaker Series with a speech by James Howard Kunstler about his new book, The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of the Oil Age, Climate Change and other Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-first Century Thu., Jan. 17.


“When I wrote the book, I had in mind primarily the global energy predicament and climate change,” said Kunstler. “That includes how are we going to feed ourselves in the decades to come? What are the ramifications for peace between nations? Because once you get a desperate competition of resources in the world, the implication is there could be a lot of friction for political problems.”

The global energy predicament Kunstler referred to is not about when the world runs out of oil. Rather, it is about when the world reaches its maximum petroleum production rate, and enters a state of permanent decline. If consumer demand continues to rapidly grow as oil supplies dwindle, the result will be unaffordable energy prices that will force countries such as Canada and the U.S. to surrender the suburban way of life.

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