What could happen if we just stopped oil? Six billion might die

Yahoo!, The Telegraph ^ | 12/19/23 | Neil Record

[DallasBiff]

Many of us have been exasperated by the antics of Just Stop Oil protesters. Now, I believe that these are well-meaning and committed to their cause and I am sure that they think that they are trying to save the planet in the best way they can think of – gain publicity, get people talking and influence politicians.

But what would happen if we literally just stopped oil tomorrow and did without the natural resources on which the world, its economies and populations depend? The answer: most likely six billion people would die within a year.

I am going to assume the “oil” in Just Stop Oil means fossil fuels – so oil, gas and coal. I am also going to assume that we have today’s technological knowledge and infrastructure, so we are talking about stopping fossil fuels now, not at some unspecified time in the future.

Day 1 – no more mining of coal; the world’s oil wells shut down; the world’s gas fields likewise. The first to feel the change would be gas users.

[BubbaBasher]

These idiots have no idea how many things are made using oil. You couldn’t make a Tesla without oil. Each wind turbine has 80 gallons of oil in it for cooling and lubrication.

[TalBlack]

Explain how you mean that...

Geologists for quite a long while now have noticed that wells thought to be depleted, in one case in the Gulf of Mexico, are apparently re filling.

[discostu]

Yeah pretty sure we’re not losing 3/4 of the population of the planet if we stopped oil. I mean it would suck to be sure. But diesel moves way more food around than oil. I get where the guy is coming from, but when you make up obviously BS numbers you sound just like the leftists. Don’t be them. Be smart.