[Shiraz]

I couldn't believe there were no peak oil bets on this site. The only vaguely peakoilian bet I noticed was this one... "By 2050 most geologists will agree that most of earth's oil and gas reserves were not produced by decaying plants."

Hillis's Argument:
"The decaying plant life argument has always seemed implausible to me, and I see no strong evidence that it is true. Thomas Gold has made a good case for an alternative theory in "Deep Hot Biosphere". While there are problems with Gold's theory also, it seems to me be closer to the truth. (The risky part of this bet is whether geologists will figure it out in 45 years.)"

Anyone who wants to can log in and challenge Hillis to a bet about this proposition, though I wouldn't recommend it. If he's wrong, the website wont be around for anyone to collect. A Pascalian wager, if ever there was one.

Anyone else can, however, issue their own claim, to which others can offer a bet. Something like, "by 2013 there will be 4 consecutive years of contracting global oil production" perhaps? If for no other reason, just getting a claim on there (mentioning peak) might help facilitate discussion about peak oil.

At the very least, I'm sure the more active disputes on this site could be settled with such a wager. How about it?

[OilsNotWell]

You might have missed this one...

http://www.longbets.org/126

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'K')urtz's Argument:
Primary driver is my belief in the imminence of 'Hubbert's Peak' (oil production). This will affect agriculture (increasingly industrial), pharmaceutical production, transportation of food and other essentials, and general increasing dependence on non-human calories in global societies.

[EddieB]

I'm prepared to bet long... I just don't think I'd be able to collect. I'll post something once I do make a bet. Thanks for the link.

[Dvanharn]

The case for abiotic oil is extremely weak.

Read this from our own peakoil.com FAQ and see if you still even consider abiotic oil to be a valid theory - at least for usable quantities or petroleum:

Rebutting abiotic oil theory

Dave

[Daculling]

You miss this one. It implies that fossil fuels will be more expensive than solar... wonder why.

Solar

And this one... you can play the side that commuting is not practical?

Work Week

Hmmm, not quite peak oil but a byproduct of it.

Biodiversity

Because there is no central government?

Taxes

Got nothin, you know the score...

Corps

I think we can all bet on this.

Population

I could go on and on but I think the poster's original agrument is that none adress PO by name but mark my words that all will be affected by it. I guess there is no harm in a bet one way or another neither party can collect... IMO.