Michael Lynch, Daniel Yergin – The Denizens of Peak Oil Denial

by Steve Andrews and Randy Udall

Last week Michael Lynch and Daniel Yergin pummeled the concept of peak oil in two mainstream media outlets. Lynch’s feisty but nearly fact-free op-ed for the New York Times and Yergin’s more scholarly reflection in Foreign Policy whipped up further discussion in the blogosphere. Although the majority of on-line responses to Lynch’s piece were negative, peak oil advocates were put on the defensive.

The two critics employ distinctly different separate styles

Yergin’s case is somewhat perplexing. His shop (Cambridge Energy Research Associates