Richard Heinberg: Opportunity for FUNDAMENTAL change

An article by Neil Reynolds in Friday’s GLOBE AND MAIL, titled “Obama’s energy quick fix bound for the slag heap,” quotes University of Manitoba Professor Vaclav Smil to support its thesis.

“The only way that Mr. Obama could significantly advance this objective . . . would be with the help”


Smil’s reasoning? “Energy systems are inherently inertial. . . . Energy transitions take decades to accomplish. Anyone who expects Mr. Obama to transform the world will be disappointed [and] the degree of disappointment that must follow such naivete will be phenomenal.”

Well, right on cue we have an article from Reuters titled, “Saudi official says global oil demand could fall 45 percent.” Yes, you read correctly: 45 percent. The official, Majid al-Munif, an adviser to Saudi Arabia’s oil minister, gives 23 percent as the lower boundary of possible demand destruction, but even this figure is stunning. The world hasn’t seen demand for oil decline like this at least since the 1980s, if ever.

The Post Carbon Institute