Peak Oil is You
Donate Bitcoins ;-) or Paypal :-)
Page added on December 8, 2013
Gail Tverberg: The Shale Oil Boom is More “Mirage” than “Miracle”
Gail Tverberg, is a professional actuary who applies classic risk assessment procedures to global resources: studying issues such as oil & natural gas depletion, water shortages, climate change, etc. She is widely known in the Peak Cheap Oil space for her reports issued across energy websites over the years under the penname “GailTheActuary”.
In this week’s podcast, Chris asks Gail to assess the merits of the shale oil “revolution”. Does it usher in a new Golden Age of American oil independence?
One Comment on "Gail Tverberg: The Shale Oil Boom is More “Mirage” than “Miracle”"
DMyers on Sun, 8th Dec 2013 6:11 pm
A good “old school” consideration of many energy and economy related concepts. I would highlight two ideas she presented.
(1)She pointed out that cutting back, in an organized attempt to achieve sustainability, or lower use of energy, (a necessary correction to living within our means) would lead to a shutdown in discretionary consumption, i.e., economic collapse. This would make it impossible to pay our debts. This creates very strong resistance to a necessary change of course.
(2)As a result of number (1) and other basic economic and energy related phenomena, she states that “…we’re headed toward limits to growth.”
Because there is no politically feasible way to contract our standard of living and impose austerity, we will inevitably crash into those limits. That is my interpretation of the conclusion at which she seems to arrive regretfully, that,
“..it does go until it’s forced…”