Comments on: Why “Peak Oil” isn’t what really worries me

By: Ron

Ron — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 10:29:30 +0000

Oil will never go below $85 again. In 2010 oil will be over $250 a barrel and gas will be $10 a gallon. Even though reserves are rising which should make oil prices drop the fact they don’t drop in price is because the political tensions are rising. With that you will either buy a hybrid which will still be expensive to operate or ride your bike or take the public transit. There are ways to reduce your fuel cost.

By: Peak Oil News

Peak Oil News — Sat, 27 May 2006 06:03:35 +0000

The steady increase in the price of oil is certainly going to inspire mainstream growth in energy alternatives. This has been happening at a grassroots level for quite some time. George Bush’s state of the union address gave some great exposure for renewable energies (regardless of his motivations in doing so). Peak oil may become a very effective motivator. Many americans are already driving less to save gas.

By: paulcook

paulcook — Sat, 07 May 2005 19:09:16 +0000

But yes, even though oil prices hurt the poor more, a gradual increase seems to be the only option. At least that gives time for governments to start doing something to help the people who can no longer afford to commute to work.

By: spleen

spleen — Wed, 04 May 2005 13:59:53 +0000

I think it’s high time we stopped digging up the sticky black goo that dead stuff turns into when you let it lie around for a long time, and then trying to burn it. Disgusting habit really. I have to hide my face in shame whenever I admit that I’m one of the Humans.

Sooner or later we’re gonna have to stop relying on oil (and coal etc. for that matter), so the least painful way forward is to start weaning ourselves from it now. I had thought that steadily increasing oil prices might be a good thing, despite the economic impact, because they make things like alternate energy and hydrogen powered cars more and more economically attractive. You make a good point about oil prices affecting poor people though.

By: Apparent Horizons » Blog Archive » Oldde thymesse

Apparent Horizons » Blog Archive » Oldde thymesse — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 19:37:04 +0000

[...] for the foresight of explaining the difficulties. That is assuming there is a future after peak oil. This entry was posted [...]

By: Griztown

Griztown — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 05:25:35 +0000

Yeah, I agree. I also think this is the biggest concern is the food issue. I read recently that the world grain yields have dropped for four straight years or something like that. I think that my strongest belief about all this oil stuff is simply that the lifestyle we enjoy currently is not sustainable.

Sustainable World - A Global Initiative

By: paulcook

paulcook — Thu, 14 Apr 2005 01:55:40 +0000

The problem is that relatively few of the developing world’s citizens still live a subsistence farming lifestyle. The massive urbanisation of the last few decades means that as much as half of the developing world live in cities, often “mega-cities”. This means that are just as vulnerable to food disruption problems (sometimes more so, as most developing world countries are net food importers), except that people have less ability to afford more expensive food. Also, mega cities often require long commutes to get from affordable housing to work, so transport uses a huge fraction of disposable income. So I think it is a real problem, if not for everyone in the developing world, then at least for a substantial part thereof.

By: Griztown

Griztown — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 21:16:47 +0000

Paul, good piece. Yeah, I agree that even if we are decades away from peak oil it doesn’t really matter if demand far outstrips supply. Well, I guess it matters a little. But either way the price of oil will become very expensive and will certainly put a crimp on our way of life.

Some people argue that the poor have the least to worry about when it comes to problems with high oil prices. I’m speaking of the global poor, not necessarily America’s poor. They argue that since they live a much more simple life they are far less dependent on energy for their livelyhood. For those of us living the good life, getting our food is far more costly and thus much for exposed to spikes in energy costs. Now if you apply this to America’s poor who as you say spend a larger percentage of their income on food and energy and are just as exposed to spikes, they will suffer the most I would think.

By: xaosseed

xaosseed — Wed, 13 Apr 2005 19:06:04 +0000

Why a horse? Since we’re talking oil, why not a Stegasaurus?

By: Laurel

Laurel — Sun, 10 Apr 2005 20:11:02 +0000

Thanks Paul, well put. Today I found a NY Times op-ed in favor of nuclear energy, which cites a statistic from the International Energy Agency, estimating that global energy demand will rise 60 percent over the next 25 years.

By: Adam

Adam — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 09:45:25 +0000

So, I’m not sure if the term “flog a dead horse” is accurate anymore. I think that we are “flogging something that might have once been recognizable as a horse, had it not been flogged so much”…