One is by rail; two is by sea

The United States must prepare for the inevitable day when fuel oil supplies run short. If the White House won’t lead, the states should.

Gov.-elect Tim Kaine’s transportation listening tour has brought out the rail enthusiasts along the congested Interstate 81 corridor.

The need for massive improvements, including dedicated truck lanes and expensive tolls, could be avoided if only truck traffic were diverted off the highways and onto the railroads, chants the rising chorus of rail enthusiasts.
They have a point. But making the case on congestion alone won’t sway the argument.

Running short on fuel oil should. The world, according to energy experts, has either reached or is nearing peak oil supply. That isn’t to say that we’ve pumped oil reserves dry, but that much of it will remain inaccessible to today’s technology that would consume as much energy extracting the oil as it would produce.

“Oil peaking represents a liquid fuels problem, not an ‘energy crisis’ in the sense that term has often been used,” said Dr. Robert L. Hirsch, energy consultant and former chairman of the Board on Energy and Environmental Systems at the National Academies, while testifying Dec. 7 before the House Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality. “Motor vehicles, aircraft, trains and ships simply have no ready alternative to liquid fuels.”

The Roanoke Times