Peak Oil is You
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Page added on October 19, 2014
HSBC Economist Says Weve Got Just 50 Years of Oil Left
TreeHugger has a post on a rare mention of peak oil in the mainstream media – HSBC Economist Says Weve Got Just 50 Years of Oil Left.
Now if youve even gotten a small bit of knowledge about the state of the worlds oil reserves and the concept of peak oil, the statement that weve got confidently just 50 years of oil left in the ground is hardly shocking–check out the video of HSBC senior economist Karen Ward delivering the lines below (around the 02:00 minute mark), h/t Climate Progress. But what is shocking to me is the calmness with which the line is delivered and how outside of specialist reporting such statements are seldom to be heard.
Fifty years is within my lifetime as in within the lifetime of many TreeHugger readers, yet when President Obama recently talked about transitioning off foreign oil and developing future energy policy, not once was even the possibility that oil itself will run out by mid-century and will become more scarce and more expensive far before that.
Perhaps the President and other politicians have just ingrained the reports saying that even if peak oil happened now or in 20 years were still unprepared.
But whatever the reason, the implications of peak oil for energy policy, development policy, the global economy, and without exaggeration even modern society as weve grown to know it over the past several decades, is so devastating, the calmness on the part of the HSBC economist and the silence about it US energy policy statements is disturbing.
6 Comments on "HSBC Economist Says Weve Got Just 50 Years of Oil Left"
Nony on Sun, 19th Oct 2014 9:10 am
“peak oil” peaked in 2008. It’s passé now.
Kenz300 on Sun, 19th Oct 2014 10:20 pm
The transition to safer, cleaner and cheaper alternative energy sources continues.
The fossil fuel industry and their paid spokes people hate competition.
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New Biofuels Facility Converts Plant Waste To Ethanol, Is 90 Percent Cleaner Than Gasoline
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/17/biofuels-plant-waste-ethanol_n_6001670.html
Kenz300 on Sun, 19th Oct 2014 10:24 pm
Since so much oil is used for transportation maybe we should be looking for ways to make our cities more bicycle friendly and add more mass transit.
Some cities and states encourage bikes………. they provide safe walking and biking lanes and trails. Cities also should encourage businesses and apartments to provide safe places to lock or store a bicycle.
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Top 10 Cycling-Friendly Cities – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycKXeKfu4lo
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Bike Friendly Cities, The Journey to School – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-XenU6UEp8
Beery on Mon, 20th Oct 2014 4:06 am
Unfortunately, Kenz, the “safety” of specialized cycling facilities has been greatly exaggerated. Studies show cyclists are safer avoiding such facilities and using roads that have none.
http://ianbrettcooper.blogspot.com/2012/08/bicycle-infrastructure-studies.html
fry10ck on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 4:15 pm
Interesting comment Beery.
I ride trail, shortcut, road, or sidewalk depending on which seems to me the safest for all concerned. This includes pedestrians for whom I slow to walking speed or sometimes dismount.
But following the state laws at all times on a bicycle? No. I’ll violate a city ordinance but I won’t attempt to violate the laws of physics. I’ll take the traffic ticket, thank you very much.
I have a committed-cyclist friend who really judges me harshly for this. He has not yet been in hospital.
fry10ck on Tue, 21st Oct 2014 4:19 pm
Follow up comment. Two pedestrians have been killed in NYC this year by Lance-Armstrong-Wannabes. I’ve seen them first-hand and will never walk the Brooklyn Bridge walkway again because of it.
These are big, fit, guys going at “training for racing” speeds right next to pedestrians. Criminal negligence in my opinion.