Are we at the peak of oil production?

In the image at right, you will notice that the peak of oil production occurred shortly after 1970. You will also notice the uptick of production when the Alaska oil fields became operational late 1970s. The current debate to open ANWAR really matters, if we don’t curtail our overall use of oil.

Since the 1980’s our debt in America has been on a exponential course of direction. Money is energy, We cannot make money without energy. In order to continue on our exponential growth pattern and sustain our economy, we became dependent on foreign fossil fuels. Since that moment, we have been mortgaging the future to live in the present. We must alter our course to avert catastrophe.
There are some that believe that the ever increasing rise in gas prices over the past years is a clear indication of peaking. The spike of oil prices and crash in 2008 is said to be the peak point of production. This is a question we cannot fully know the answers to till probably 5 or 10 years out. Raymond James, the investment company that the Buccaneers football team’s stadium is named for, released a press release declaring peak oil: “represents a paradigm shift of historic proportions. Unfortunately, mankind better get ready to live in a peak oil world because we believe the ‘peak’ is now behind us.”

The implications of such a statement are frightening when you consider the lifestyle most Tampa Bay area residents live. What if we turned this frightening thought into positive inspired action? Climate change tells us we should get off oil, peak oil tells us we are going to be forced off consuming oil. The peak production of oil doesn’t mean that oil will necessarily disappear from our lives, rather it will gradually become more and more expensive forcing us to renegotiate our way of life to use less of it.

When oil gets more expensive people will have to learn to live more within their local communities. People won’t be spending as much time watching TV as they will be out in their yards gardening and working at local community gardens to lower their food bills. Ride sharing will be more common, More friends will be found as we will have to once again be social. We will see a reemergence of the Arts. Culture and society will flourish as the normal pathways of life that lead us to stay in our homes and mindlessly consume will disappear. We will have to begin to be productive once more with our own hands, our minds, and our hearts giving us once more a sense of what life really means.

Creative Loafing