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Page added on June 13, 2013
Heinberg: SNAKE OIL: How Fracking’s False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future
The Story
We’re being told that — thanks to technological advances like hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling — the US is undergoing an energy revolution, leading us in a few short years to become once again the world’s biggest oil producer and an exporter of natural gas. According to the Oil & Gas Industry and their proponents, “fracking” will provide the US with energy security, low energy prices for the foreseeable future, more than a million jobs, and economic growth. And they tell us that we can frack our way to independence without hurting the environment.
The Reality
This is beyond absurd. The energy abundance of the so-called “Shale Revolution” will be short-lived, while the environmental, economic and societal costs of this drilling frenzy will last for generations.
Help us expose these lies and turn the tide in the ultimate fight against greed by pre-ordering and participating in the writing and editing of Richard Heinberg’s next book, SNAKE OIL! How Big Energy’s Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future.
WHAT’S IN THE BOOK:
In SNAKE OIL! Richard will directly confront the widespread hype about fracking and America’s potential to become energy independent. This hype has infected environmental organizations as well as the mainstream media, so one chapter will attempt to disentangle thinking about climate change and peak oil.
Another chapter will dissect the relationship between fracking and Wall Street, showing that shale is the latest financial bubble being blown by the big investment banks. We’ll also see why other unconventional sources of oil and gas are unlikely to change the overall trend of fossil fuel decline that will characterize the remainder of the current century.
In many respects, this book is an update of the peak oil story for the post-fracking era. It focuses, more than any of Richard’s previous books, on the culpability of the oil industry for actively discouraging awareness and action on climate change and peak oil (hence the title).
27 Comments on "Heinberg: SNAKE OIL: How Fracking’s False Promise of Plenty Imperils Our Future"
John_A on Thu, 13th Jun 2013 10:01 pm
The Reality? The “shale revolution” was never supposed to happen, and Richard is pissed! Back in the 70’s when he wanted to force people at gunpoint to work on farms, he just couldn’t figure out how to make it happen. Then he found peak oil and presto! he could SCARE people into it! Now that the economically obvious has happened (the more you are willing to pay, the deeper into the resource pyramid you can reach)he is just steamed that all his books and speeches saying that peak means a DECLINE are now being contradicted by reality and Richard must fight the rearguard action on keeping anyone from saying “the economists were right!”. Keep up the fight Richard! With luck, by 2020 or so, you can fire up the entire wise old grandfatherly routine all over again and maybe the younger generation will fall for it just like theire parents did!
Dave Thompson on Thu, 13th Jun 2013 10:21 pm
The current shale oil “boom” is not going to last. Richard is and has always been well researched and thought out.
John_A on Thu, 13th Jun 2013 11:25 pm
Richard writes well. That is not to be confused with “well researched”, otherwise he would never have been caught out by something any freshman resource economist knows about. In Richard’s case, the shales were on the resource list, just sitting there…waiting. And then one day…they were ready for prime time. To be “well researched”, Richard would have needed to talk to that freshman resource economists, but he didn’t. Better luck next generation Richard.
GregT on Thu, 13th Jun 2013 11:50 pm
One tiny little word that most economists can’t quite grasp, is the word finite. A key concept that alludes many economists, is the concept of exponential growth.
Infinite exponential growth on a finite planet is a mathematical and physical impossibility. Maybe freshmen resource economists need to go back and study basic arithmetic and biology.
The Earth is not just sitting there waiting for us to turn it into paper dollars, we need it to be healthy for our survival as a species. Economists and their idiotic mantra of economic growth will be the main reason for the extinction of our species.
Satori on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 12:07 am
in my state
a few short years ago
we were told we had enough natural gas available through fracking to last for a hundred years
next thing you know it was down to 40 years
and now they’re talking maybe 5 years worth
and oh
don’t let me forget about the bazillion jobs it was going to create
HA HA HA
TOO FUNNY
dsula on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 12:18 am
John_A? Are you a freshman economist?
Others on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 12:37 am
Using the horizontal drilling technology, the oil companies will keep on drilling where ever there is shale rocks.
They will drill in all 7 continents and perhaps the 5 oceans as well.
Since there is 30% depletion, they will keep on drilling until all Oil is gone.
Remember 20th century started with 10,000 vehicles and ended with 700 million vehicles.
21st century start with 700 million vehicles and already there is 1 billion vehicles, the consumption will increase faster leading to faster extraction and depletion as well.
MikeB on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 12:43 am
In the propaganda film “End of Suburbia,” there is a scene where Richard intones that in “five years, we will be beyond the peak.”
That movie was filmed in 2003.
Richard is a crank.
GregT on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 2:02 am
Peak oil is widely accepted to be the cause of the ongoing ‘Global Financial Crisis’.
In case anyone wasn’t/ isn’t paying attention, the Crisis began in 2008. Exactly when Heinburg predicted that it would happen.
And it ain’t over yet, by a longshot.
Satori on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 2:29 am
hey
there’s so much oil available
that a couple of years ago it cost me
$15 to fill my gas tank
now it’s more like $70
good thing we got so much !!!
Plantagenet on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 2:31 am
Heinberg can’t handle the truth. Yes, conventional oil has peaked. But no, unconventional oil hasn’t peaked yet.
Others on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 2:53 am
Atleast people agree that conventional oil has peaked.
Unconventional Oil is very expensive and for that we have to go on fracking.
Frac, Frac, Frac.
Rusty Baker on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 3:32 am
John_A is right about Richard Heinberg being angry and disappointed that his theories have been proven to be false. Heinberg has been preaching doom-and-gloom since 2003 when he wrote “The Party’s Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Socieities.” And yet, none of his predictions have materialized, on the contrary; the world is producing more oil than it ever has in history.
As environmentalist George Monbiot noted, the world has enough oil to fry the planet. Thanks to the shale boom, the USA is on track to become a major oil and gas exporter in the next few years. Heinberg cannot accept the changing energy reality of abundant shale oil and gas because it contradicts his failed decades-old “peak oil” predictions and doomsday prophecies.
Richard Heinberg is still beating that dead “peak oil” horse along with James “Huckster” Kunstler, Dmitry “Commie” Orlov and Michael “Cuckoo” Ruppert. When are they going to give up?
BillT on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 3:56 am
The truth Plant? Here is the truth.
We peaked in 1971 at about 10 million barrels per day. We had 207 million Americans then.
Today we claim 7 million barrels per day but we have 315 million Americans to share that with. That is a drop of energy wealth by 60%, meaning to have 1970s energy available, we need 16 million barrels per day. Even counting in Canada’s oil and Mexico’s, we still fall way short and will NEVER catch up.
Heinberg may be off by dates, but the end is going to be the same. Many ‘economists’ thought we would collapse years ago, but Bernanke is printing money to keep the explosion in the future. All he is actually doing is adding more C4 to the pile and when it blows, it will take civilization and all of your techie dreams with it.
So, it’s easy to put down someone whom you do not agree with. It’s harder to look at the situation with an OPEN mind and then admit he is on the right track, which he is. An open mind is the key. Few Westerners have one.
GregT on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 4:43 am
Rusty,
They are doing their best to help people become aware of what is in our future. It does not matter to them whether you listen or not. That is your choice.
Calling them names does nothing to change anything. As a matter of fact, it is textbook human psychology for someone who is insecure and/or in denial.
mike on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 6:54 am
john a mike B, we did hit the peak at around 2006/2008, haven’t you noticed a certain economic collapse that is happening wordlwide? head in the sand time is it guys?
Arthur on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 7:50 am
Here is an alternative for the fracking business, or more likely, a followup:
http://deepresource.wordpress.com/2013/06/13/norway-europes-green-battery/
German professor, in a 20 min. English spoken talk, explains how by 2050 Europe can have a 100% renewable energy infrastructure, using giant Norwegian hydro-storage reservoirs. Meanwhile several European countries already have underseas cables to Norway for that purpose. The professor says that in case of an emergency we can have that infrastructure as early as 2030.
Given the mountains of the US and Canada, something similar should be possible for North-America.
DC on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 9:17 am
You might think so Arthur, but nothing like it will ever materialize here. I am glad Europeans are more forward thinking and actually building the stuff thats needed, IE Germany, Denmark etc, in a big way. But if you lived here, and you *dont*, you would not see any physical evidence that either Canada or or the US have any plans in place to build anything other than more pipelines to move corrosive tar around the continent.
That is Canada’s energy plan-full stop. The current regime in Ottawa does not even pay lip-service to conservation or the need for green-power, much less actual shovel-ready plans to do anything concrete. The provincial govts are no better, Alberta is US occupied territory and in BC, christy clark talks non-stop about ‘resource development’. Which is code for fraked NG. There is still some normal NG left in BC, but not a lot, and her brilliant plan of course, is to allow the frakers to dig it up and pipe it south to those ‘energy independent’ amerikans.
Arther, were doing sweet bugger all over here besides blowing lots of blue smoke. We talk a good game-but build more roads and more track houses every year-even when the economy does not want or need them. What we ‘could’ do here, is meaningless, when our intentions are do to nothing. Its good you dont have to travel far in Europe to see real progress being made. Here? you could drive from Vancouver to Winnipeg and beyond and see *nothing*, besides cars, sprawl, and exhaust.
That how is it here, and how its going to stay.
Arthur on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 2:08 pm
Well DC, in the long run North-America has no choice. You cannot burn oil/gas that is not there. Germany can look forward to a lot of North-American customers in the future who will want to have turnkey energy projects.
BillT on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 3:18 pm
Arthur, it appears that Europe is more forward thinking, but it is not. France is fighting to keep it’s nukes and build more. Germany is failing. Denmark is deeply in debt, as is all of Europe. All countries still rely on hydrocarbon imports to survive.
When the banking system fails, and it will, all will disappear in a flash. The European banks are being propped up by the US Fed dollar. When it goes so goes the Euro. In about 10 years, you are welcome to say, I told you so, if what I see does not happen, but until then, be as patriotic as you want. Reality has a way of making that a joke.
Arthur on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 4:39 pm
No one can abandon fossil fuels over night, that takes decades, and the smarter countries (not France) are working towards that goal and will get there. And what on earth do you mean with ‘Germany is failing’?! You are postulating a too strong a correlation between the survival of a financial system and the survival of a people/nation. Let a financial system collapse come, something new will replace the old system. Germany had it’s ‘economic miracle’ merely 10 years after it was totally destroyed by the Anglo-Soviet coalition. I am relatively optimistic about the future of Europe (not to be confused with it’s economy) because of the competence of it’s people. Once ZOG is flat on it’s face (continental Europe’s only serious enemy for 100 years), Europe somehow will manage to set something up that is livable, albeit considerable more modest than what we have now. The main reason why I believe that in the long run at least a core of Europe will remain united is because of the threat of a rising China, that will drive Russia and the EU in each others arms. Only time will tell.
Juan Pueblo on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 5:44 pm
It is already too late. Prepare yourself to help your friends and family as all these systems continue collapsing and enjoy your life while you can. It will be every man for himself after things get really bad. Shale has only given us a few years to enjoy, that’s all.
I,m sailing and fishing as hard as I can, I’m worn out 😉
DC on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 8:05 pm
Arthur the US’s plan for declining oil and gas, is called the US military. You know, they still tromp around Europe occupying your lands, and claiming to be keeping the EU safe, from ‘communism’, lately amended to ‘terrorism’. The adjunct plan, is to drain Mexico and Canada of there oil and gas(well underway), and strip-mine under-populated and politically insignificant states in the homeland, ie North Dakata that no one in the US gives a rats-ass about.
It will keep the game rolling a little while longer. While I, personally, would love to see those well designed and built European energy systems here powering my needs, my Prime Minister works for the US and Global Oil corporations. Guys like Harper dont care one bit *where* it comes from, or who they have to kill or displace to get it either.
Arthur on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 10:38 pm
“the US’s plan for declining oil and gas, is called the US military.”
Then we in europe are lucky, since we have no oil and gas. Maybe they will snitch our panels and turbines instead? 😉
Seriously, there are not many US soldiers anymore in Europe (Germany in particular). It is a symbolic presence, it does not matter. Around 2000 I was scared to death that the NWO would actually succeed, today I know it is not going to happen. Samuel Huntington is going to prevail, intellectually and beats the Straussian neocons. Simply do not provoke the empire too much and hope it will attack somebody else. Eventually the empire will run out of steam and somebody will calls it’s bluff… like these large monday morning demonstrations in East-Germany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday_demonstrations_in_East_Germany
In the end there will be not much difference between Europe and North-America. When the oil runs out, NA has no choice but to also adopt wind/solar + hydro-storage and in fact even has better conditions than Europe: more space, less people, more mountains, more sun (North-Scotland=South-Greenland).
James A. Hellams on Fri, 14th Jun 2013 11:32 pm
Heinberg is completely right on when he talks about shale oil.
In an article about shale oil resources on this site, it was mentioned that the total worldwide “technically recoverable” supply of shale oil is 345 billion barrels. The total worldwide consumption of oil (the last time I looked) was 31 BILLION barrels of oil annually.
Folks, the total worldwide consumption of oil will, IF all the “technically recoverable” shale oil can be produced, swallow up the shale oil in a little over 11 years. That is a little over 11 YEARS, folks!
Heinberg is absolutely correct!
Others on Sat, 15th Jun 2013 3:49 am
Read this article guys
Actually Forbes is a Pro-Oil company. Even they are looking pessimistically at shale. Oil companies are looking cautiously at their investments.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2013/06/13/why-americas-shale-oil-boom-could-end-sooner-than-you-think/
Arthur on Sat, 15th Jun 2013 8:26 am
Yes Others, confirmation that even the ‘glutters’ become sceptical. 10 years delay of execution, that’s unconventional oil.