Peak Oil: Thoughts and Observations For 2013

The Great Debate revolves around the U.S. oil and gas industry’s new claim that we are entering a ‘new golden age of fossil fuels’ and those who counter that this will come at an increasing cost to the environment and the health of the people on this planet….

In simple terms, the warnings of ‘Peak Oil’ have been replaced by promises of abundance if petrochemical companies get digging and using new and more expensive techniques to extract oil and gas from the ground.

All of a sudden, H.K. Hubbert’s prediction and threat of Peak Oil – for America and the world – has been dumped as miners turn to tar sands and fracking to satiate our growing appetite for fossil fuels, not just in North America but in many places around the world….

The issue of fossil fuels versus a more sustainable future is an issue too big for company bosses and pliant politicians to decide.

There is a need for The Great Debate, an ongoing discussion about an issue that has the potential to bring so much change and affect us all. It should be one in which all parties are adequately informed about the issue. It should be one in which all factors are taken into account, not just profit, prices and economic growth. It should be one in which all sectors of the public have a chance to have their say. It should be one in which people from around the world get a chance to speak.

Who should join the debate? Not just the usual suspects. All stakeholders should have a place at the table. Scientists, experts, innovators, environmentalists, community leaders, anybody who feels they have something useful to contribute.

And what is the crux of the debate?

Are we looking at a ‘new golden era of fossil fuels’? Or should we be rushing to transition to cleaner energy?…

An issue this important needs serious debate. An issue this important should not be left to a handful of people with the wrong motives at heart.

Right now, those pursuing the new golden age for fossil fuels are running with the ball. It is the appropriate moment to shout – ‘Time out.’ We need to rethink the rules. [1]

… we need to do more than come up with new technology to solve the problems we now face. We also need to rethink and remake our entire infrastructure, our economics, and even our culture. This isn’t just a project for a crack team of scientists. This one is going to need the help of every one of us. [2]

And some past comments from me, echoing a primary theme and purpose:

If we’re not starting to think long term about what we’ll be doing and how we’ll be doing it, the rest of our lives, our children’s lives, and our grandchildren’s as well will be a succession of mini-crises that are never solved, with an election turnover every two years that guarantees all the wrong kinds of change (stagnation is more likely). It’s hard to see how that is going to keep working well for us. Is that the best we can now hope for? Are we willing to endure that anxiety and pain rather than face the uncertainty of structuring great change? [3]

We’ve achieved many great things, and our work is not done. It’s important to understand, however, that what we will accomplish and innovate in the years to come will arise with and from different resources and under different economic conditions. The monumental transitions which will take place will better serve us all if we take part now in understanding the challenges we face, the options and alternatives available to us, and appreciate what today’s decisions mean for us all in the days to come. We’re not powerless nor are we dependent solely upon others to make those choices for us. [4]

We can attempt to be ahead of those changes by understanding and then planning as best we can, or we can instead take our chances that the changes and adaptations may not be all that bad after all. That’s a dicey approach in dealing with our—and our children’s—futures. [5]

What will our future be? What’s the Plan? The choice remains ours.

Peak Oil Matters