Awareness continues to rise

SFGate.com recently published a good article about oil. Here are a few excerpts:

When Hurricane Katrina struck two years ago, Americans learned just how ill-equipped the government is to respond effectively to natural disasters. But if you think the government's response to Katrina was inept, brace yourself for peak oil.

Global oil production will hit its peak in the next few years, at which point oil prices will skyrocket and voracious consumers like the United States, China and Europe will quickly drain every last barrel they can afford to buy. Our per-capita oil consumption is double that of most European nations and more than triple Mexico's, and shows no sign of slowing. As supplies dwindle, an economic disaster on a par with Katrina will start to unfold.

Global oil demand is at 84 million barrels a day and rising, and there are at most a trillion barrels' worth still in the ground, most of which is very difficult and expensive to recover. Do the math, and you'll see that the end of oil is, at most, 30 years away.

In February, the U.S.
Government Accountability Office dropped a quiet little bombshell: a
report on peak oil concluding that there is an urgent need for a swift,
coordinated government strategy to assess and develop alternative
energy technologies to avert "severe economic damage." The agency concluded: "(T)he United States, as the largest consumer
of oil and one of the nations most heavily dependent on oil for
transportation, may be especially vulnerable among the industrialized
nations of the world." Stark though its conclusion is, the GAO may in
fact be understating the gravity of the situation.

The report followed on the heels
of a 2005 peak oil risk management report commissioned by the
Department of Energy, which warned of the "extremely damaging" and
"chaotic" impacts that will ensue if "intensive," "aggressive" and
"expensive" mitigation measures are not put in place at least 10 years
ahead of time. Both reports landed with a dull thud and have been
dutifully ignored. In other words, there is no Plan B.

The United States has reacted to
the threat of peak oil and gas with all the alacrity of its response to
climate change. It is ignoring the looming crisis for as long as it
can, just waiting for that sledgehammer to land its first blow.
Eventually, when a recession hits, tax revenue will plummet, and the
government will have nowhere near the money it needs to build an
alternative energy and transportation infrastructure. Every year that
goes by without an intensive mobilization to build an oil-independent
economy diminishes our odds of surviving the end of oil.

At this point, you might be
asking yourself: When oil becomes scarce, how will I get food? That's a
very good question. Here are a few more: Will my garbage get picked up?
How will my water district purify and deliver water and treat sewage
without petrochemicals? What if I need an ambulance? What if my home is
one of the 7.7 million that rely on oil for heating? Which of my
medications are made out of petrochemicals? How will I get to work?
Will I even have a job anymore?(More)