A few holiday-induced thoughts about peak oil

Like a lot of people, when I think about peak oil, my mind drifts toward the things that are likely to go away: super-stocked grocery stores, cheap gas and easy mobility, push-button conveniences, exurban houses filling the prairie, and the techno-toys we stuff them with. Once the our present reality starts to sink in on you, it makes sense to think like that. After all, the key word that unlocks the post-peak oil cipher is “less.” Not just less hydrocarbon energy; less of everything.

I am particularly aware of the ghost of less during the holidays. It’s as if I become Ebenezer Scrooge, visited by a fourth apparition, determined to strip me of every illusion. For instance, everywhere I go these days there is a 200-inch plasma TV for sale. While most people check the price tag, all I can do is calculate the extra carbon dioxide that will pour into the atmosphere the second someone plugs the thing in. I look for the “Made in China” sticker and tally up how many miles it traveled to get here and how much oil it took to accomplish that.

I don’t mean to be such a Humbug. I can’t help it. During this season when pilgrims trek to so many shopping shrines across the city, I guess I’m doomed to be a kind of human speed bump in the road. Serious buzz kill.

That’s why, this year I am delighted to say I’ve discovered a new way of looking at things that has renewed some of my holiday spirit. I can’t stop compiling the “list of less” containing all the things that will sooner or later be lost to us. That would be too much denial, even at Christmas. But I’ve decided to keep a second list as well, of all the things that will remain, no matter how much difficulty we face in a post-peak future.

So Long, Hydrocarbon Man