[reggieUK]

Since Matt Simmons first announced the peak oil thing to the world, was it about 18 months/2 years ago, I've been the family nutcase, the fanatic etc etc.
I send peak oil links to a local egroup (in Somerset UK) of just under 200 people and hardly ever a reply - but in the last week or two, peak oil has become one of the main topics of conversation on this group.
In other words people are realizing that this is not planet X or Y2K but this is actually real. Slumber is over. Even my ma and pa are listening! (or maybe humouring me)
Another peak oilite that has now joined this egroup has called for a peak oil awareness meeting and the Mayor (who is on the group) is going along and he's asked the PO guy if he'll address the town council!!!
that's a wow.
At this rate we can expect to see Panorama doing a programme soon and Jeremy Vine doing a radio 2 show.
Has anyone else noticed a sea change?

Now I've just got to tell everyone that it's here now - not 2008!

[RonMN]

From one family nutcase to another i have not noticed a huge change but a slight change...slowly more people i know seem to be comming aware (very slowly).

One thing to remember...if your parants are just humouring you...it's ok...as they see gasoline go up & food prices go up they will put 2 & 2 together because you've already informed them.

Hell, it took me 4-5 months of hard studying before i realized i couldn't disprove the PO theory.

[Aqua]

I’ve more or less given up trying to preach peak oil theory to people for quite some time now but on the occasions I do mention it these days to more enlightened souls I find a more responsive tone. Smart people can see how oil at 50$ plus a barrel is starting to hurt their pocket, how it pushes up inflation and the like but from my experience they still cannot see the big picture 5 to 10 years down the line to some really hard times coming under the present status quo. There is still massive denial but I see in some that grains of truth maybe embedding which is a good thing.
Personally I prefer to prepare these days for the inevitable decline rather than bang my head against the wall trying to save those who cannot see and question my sanity.

[Leanan]

I don't know if it's a sea change, but there does seem to be a lot more awareness.

Look at all the new books out this spring: Beyond Oil, The Long Emergency, Twilight In the Desert. Driven by the high cost of gasoline, I daresay. As long as gas stays high, people will talk about peak oil. If it goes back down again, people will forget all about it.

[Aqua]

Hawkcreek I agree with you but its the getting back to 1985 that I worry about, I would say we have to get back a lot more than that to see something more sustainable. Its going to be a bumpy ride from where we are at today with lots of nasty surprises along the way. I'm quite an optimistic type of guy I just think that the present type of capitalism with it's infinite growth mentality is very self destructive hence my sometimes negative tone.
Back to the original post, yes I do see a change in mentality of late especially in the press. Today in the UK Times it is full of stories of how high oil prices are stifling world growth and leading to higher inflation. They are even recommending buying gold and silver as a hedge against inflation instead of the usual stocks and shares and everything is rosy. Interesting times for sure but I don't see anything in this present system that makes me feel confident about the status quo.

[bobcousins]

I would agree, this year the tide of opinion seems to be turning. I haven't been counting, but the number of articles indicating a high oil price will persist versus those saying its a temporary blip certainly seem to be increasing, possibly the majority. They may not go as far as mentioning Peak Oil though. I think the idea is slowly percolating through. It took several years for the idea of global warming to reach the general conciousness, even if people don't agree with it they are aware of the concept. Most people are of the "I will believe it when I see it" variety. Having demonstrable effects of climate change enables people to grasp the idea.

I expect there will need to be a few years of rising oil prices and declining oil production before people will generally accept that there really is a Peak Oil problem. George Bush in his endearingly naive style will be chatting to the Saudis about how high oil prices affect the economy, and the Saudis will promise more oil, so there is a serious state of denial to be played out for a while. If in the meantime, the US economy collapses, which it probably will, we may be too distracted to notice oil is on the downslope.

[mrniceguy]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('reggieUK', '
')
At this rate we can expect to see Panorama doing a programme soon

[RobintheDruid]

Thats a great idea. Count me in.

[FatherOfTwo]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('reggieUK', '
')
Now I've just got to tell everyone that it's here now - not 2008!

[Grimnir]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('FatherOfTwo', 'I')f you're wrong, your credibility is shot.

[reggieUK]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Grimnir', ' ') I don't mean to single out reggie here and I hope he doesn't take this personally (his post is a pretty mild example), but I really wish everyone would quit predicting that OMG TEOTWAWKI TSHTF is NOW!!!!!111

[clv101]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('reggieUK', 'I') send peak oil links to a local egroup (in Somerset UK) of just under 200 people and hardly ever a reply - but in the last week or two, peak oil has become one of the main topics of conversation on this group.
In other words people are realizing that this is not planet X or Y2K but this is actually real. Slumber is over. Even my ma and pa are listening! (or maybe humouring me)
Another peak oilite that has now joined this egroup has called for a peak oil awareness meeting and the Mayor (who is on the group) is going along and he's asked the PO guy if he'll address the town council!!!
that's a wow.

[RobintheDruid]

Gwell. I tap into it also, as I live in the same town as reggieUK. You have got to live within 5 miles of Glastonbury Tor in Somerset, UK, to join it though.