THE "Found on Yahoo" Thread (merged)

by **PeakOiler** » Sun 29 May 2005, 07:43:28

After reading some of the messages posted at the Yahoo News message board on Peak Oil, one gets the impression that it's all the liberals' fault.

Denial is running rampant on that message board too.

Those with the strongest opinions against the Peak Oil theory are beyond saving or convincing.

In a way, it may be best that the majority stays blissfully ignorant.

by **PeakKYJelly** » Sun 29 May 2005, 07:54:21

They mention that coal liquefaction creates oil at $32 a barrel, far lower than the existing price of oil today. They also say that investors are just waiting to see if oil remains in the $50s, before they dump money into coal liquefaction.

This implies that a cheap alternative to oil (compared to today's prices) already exists, but before we go ahead with it, we have to find out if oil is "really" peaking.

by **mgibbons19** » Sun 29 May 2005, 09:52:08

PO is not going to unfold over night. Most likely fuels will just keep getting more expensive over time, a little bit at a time.

Which means that PO will go mainstream. Ppl will talk, worry, and then forget. We will be back to Brad and, who is it Angelina now, in approximately three weeks after PO hits the mainstream.

It will only change the public mood once it is clear that this really constitutes a crisis. When the wars get really ugly, when fuel becomes unaffordable, when the economy seriuosly hurts, when ppl's homes are cold in the winter.

Once it's obvious that it is a clear crisis however, then the public mood may well change quickly.

I'm just not sure a news article and a movie will accomplish that.

T4T.

by **clv101** » Sun 29 May 2005, 10:14:18

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('mgibbons19', 'P')O is not going to unfold over night.

by **chris-h** » Sun 29 May 2005, 13:24:25

Go here.

http://news.yahoo.com/

It is the fourth most popular right now.

You need to have a yahoo acc to do it mail or something.

by **PeakOiler** » Sun 29 May 2005, 13:37:42

The Peak Oil discussion on the Yahoo! message board has seen about 1040 messages since May 28th.

The messages themselves give an interesting slice of the current views of the mainstream public.

The awakening and denial continues.

by **El_Producto** » Sun 29 May 2005, 14:11:37

Saw this same article in the buisness section of my local paper today, accompanied with a graph claiming that there is a "95% probability" of the peak occouring in 2026.

I was happy to see the article-but its way to open to random interpretation to make any sort of difference, or even make anyone give a shit.

by **Barbara** » Sun 29 May 2005, 16:26:59

peakoil in maistream is like global heating in maistream: nobody could care less.
as long as they find gas at the gas station down the street, then the party is far from over.

by **OilyMon** » Sun 29 May 2005, 18:30:42

Mainstream TV, magazine, literature and newspaper media doesn't want people responding to them like the last guy/gal you told about peak oil responded to you: "You're crazy."

Everytime you read a book/article see a news story etc, they play down the consequences or don't talk about them at all. The focus is always on the pump on cable news. People hear/read the material, briefly feel slightly anxious, but the story/article/chapter always ends with some nice warm fuzzy uplifting motivational-poster worthy sentiments about how we will overcome the problems, or will briefly touch on some of the alternatives that are in the works.

There is no way that anybody can get a sense of what petroleum depletion means, what the major players are saying about it, or possible consquences of it without reading a lot of material, and being driven to read that material by a spark of curiosity or a morbid fascination. Without one of those two initial conditions, peak oil awareness can never develope into the genuine concern and passion that is a necessary component of political and social activism.

by **Hubbert2005** » Sun 29 May 2005, 19:47:32

More than 1000 posts on the Yahoo site and from what I read, not a whole lot of understanding/believing in PO. Lots of "They said that back in '70". I think it will take a little more time. . .

What I find interesting is that it's breaking into Mainstream just before the summer driving season, got my eyes wide open to say the least! :twisted:

by **Overlyhonest** » Tue 31 May 2005, 10:10:12

Looks like peoples attention has shifted back to Paris Hilton.
Someone somewhere must have summed up this kind of behavior in a witty on target rant. Can anyone share it?

by **DomusAlbion** » Tue 31 May 2005, 10:19:37

Here is a a direct link to the article on Yahoo!

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&c ... p/oil_gone

by **kenohio** » Tue 31 May 2005, 11:48:30

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Hubbert2005', 'M')ore than 1000 posts on the Yahoo site and from what I read, not a whole lot of understanding/believing in PO. Lots of "They said that back in '70". I think it will take a little more time. . .

by **PhilBiker** » Tue 31 May 2005, 13:17:38

This Ap story was picked up by some print media also. I read it on Sunday.

by **Hubbert2005** » Tue 31 May 2005, 13:37:55

i know what you mean Kenohio, I'm involved in this process myself but form my city apartment there is very little I can do WRT self-sufficiency.
I have no debt whatsover which I see as a big plus.

I'm still trying to figure out whats the best way to go, I'm currently employed in the city and own no vehicle so a big move out of town is not in the cards just yet. Feel as though I'm in somewhat of a holding pattern.

by **kenohio** » Wed 01 Jun 2005, 20:14:35

Hubbert2005, I think being in an apartment in the city with no debt is better than being up to your eyeballs in debt out in the suburbs. Most houses in the suburbs are way too big to heat economically and will be worthless if the cities around them implode. Plus in many parts of the country a serious housing bubble has many people sitting on a house of cards ready to crash in on them.

I don't think everyone should move to farms, but I do think that those of us with access to family farmland should try to hang on to it and improve it when and where possible.

Might be a great time to unload some of the crap we all seem to accumulate over the years that has little use. That way if your area is harder hit than some other area, you aren't tring to sell stuff into a buyers market.

Cash gives people flexibility, and in a time of transition being flexible is extremely important.

by **brobak** » Thu 04 Aug 2005, 13:50:29

Thermo-depoly of wood

Article from yahoo. The interesting part for me was :

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', ' ')Only about 2 percent of the mass is lost in the heating process

by **Heineken** » Thu 04 Aug 2005, 14:32:30

I'm sure that a lot of the yahoos out there read that article and thought, "Well, problem solved!", assuming they are even remotely aware of the problem.

There is no replacement for oil on anything close to a one-to-one ratio. Period. I've read about a hundred of these schemes and they all just sort of die of their own lousy EROEI. You never hear about them again. Perhaps they'll gain some ground when oil is at $100/bbl and up, but by then the damage is done and the economy "as we know it" is reeling without a cure.

by **seldom_seen** » Thu 04 Aug 2005, 14:43:46

My favorite use of trees is standing, preventing erosion, providing wildlife habitat and producing oxygen.

I fear for the trees in a post-peak world.

by **turmoil** » Thu 04 Aug 2005, 15:03:31

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('seldom_seen', 'M')y favorite use of trees is standing, preventing erosion, providing wildlife habitat and producing oxygen.

I fear for the trees in a post-peak world.

THE "Found on Yahoo" Thread (merged)

Please go to news.yahoo.com and recommend the PO story

Yahoo article on wood to oil tech

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