The Long Emergency [Peak Oil]

Rolling Stone ^ | Thursday, March 24, 2005 | JAMES HOWARD KUNSTLER

[Momaw Nadon]

FYI and discussion.

[Petronski]

We're doomed. Doomed! DOOMED!!!

[ClearCase_guy]

I'm confident that we will all starve to death long before we run out of oil. Paul Ehrlich has done the research, and he says we're gonna run out of food any day now. So this oil thing is no big deal.

[Jim Noble]

It has been very hard for Americans -- lost in dark raptures of nonstop infotainment, recreational shopping and compulsive motoring

Oooh, bad, BAD Americans!

[CzarNicky]

The more the price of oil goes up the more economical other methods of extraction become. There are literally trillions of barrels of recoverable oil out there we just need to have a reason to get it. Previously the price of the commodity did not justify the expense.

[Wonder Warthog]

"FYI and discussion."

Ridiculous tripe. Obviously the author has been indulging in the other activity that denizens of "Rolling Stone" magazine are prone to----taking too many recreational drugs and frying his brain.

[carlr]

Nothing but hyperbole that assumes any thing that may have happened in the past is therefore an inescapable trend that will repeat in the future.
One example is that our production is down and our consumption is up.He acts as if there is no solution to this inequity and because that is the situation we have now it will be that way forever.He fails to admit or see that the situation arose because of policy choices we made.It can be reversed by more exploration and development of nuclear plants.
The truth probably is that he does`nt like the solutions and to obscure the facts wants people to believe there are no answers.
Very disingenuous.

[Sender]

First of all, anything from Rolling Stone is going to say "run in circles, scream and shout!", so consider the source.

I do believe that we need to maximize our use of oil by voluntarily choosing more fuel-efficient vehicles whenever possible.

My little 2.3-liter 4-cylinder Ford Ranger gets about 25 mpg and can carry half a ton, and it's fun to drive. As a contrast, my old Yamaha 2-stroke streetbike only has 346 cc displacement and gets...about 25 mpg.

[carlr]

There are literally trillions of barrels of recoverable oil out there we just need to have a reason to get it. Previously the price of the commodity did not justify the expense

Very true,and if it was sure to be profitable for the foreseeable future many companies would be going after it.The truth is the oil price is largely built on speculation.I`m sure those companies that could extract the shale oil believe that the influx of oil on the market would cause the price to tank to a level well below the profitability point.

[Jim Noble]

The Pacific Northwest, New England and the Upper Midwest have somewhat better prospects. I regard them as less likely to fall into lawlessness, anarchy or despotism and more likely to salvage the bits and pieces of our best social traditions and keep them in operation at some level.

Is he referring to NASCAR?

There's a great track right here in New Hampshire.

[advance_copy]

Rolling Stone meets expectations once again. What a bunch of shlock!

[nathanbedford]

'The other way to get hydrogen in the quantities wished for would be electrolysis of water using power from hundreds of nuclear plants.'

Sounds like the way to go to me. If someone who actually knows what he is talking about here could comment, I would be grateful to be educated about the technological feasibility of nuclear electrolysis.

--

[Bones75]

One thing this article does bring up for me. We really should start to build more nuclear power plants.

[SW6906]

"The result was that just about every power plant built after 1980 has to run on gas."

Demonstrably false. My Dad, who was involved in the construction and startup of several new coal-fired and geothermal power plants around the USA over the last 20+ years might beg to differ.

[Mr. Jeeves]

The latent encoded behavior of Southern culture includes an outsized notion of individualism and the belief that firearms ought to be used in the defense of it. This is a poor recipe for civic cohesion.

So East Detroit, the South Bronx, and South Central Los Angeles are criminal hellholes because of the "latent encoded behavior of Southern culture"? Who knew?

Somebody is going to be using guns to take what they want when the power goes out, but the evidence suggests it isn't going to be Southern Pentecostal Christians. ;)

[theBuckwheat]

Let the handwringing begin!

Seriously, the left just cannot bring itself to acknowledge the ability of the market to provide supply where there is a demand. The only question is cost.

In truth we are living in an ocean of hydrocarbons which can be converted, and are being converted by existing technologies, into forms that are suitable for various needs.

Canada's oil sands contain almost as much in hydrocarbons as Saudi oil contains.

The US has a Saudi-sized amount of oil in the form of oil shale deposits, not to mention the several centuries supply of coal we have.

At this very moment, a plant in Carthage, Missouri is turning tons of organic waste from a nearby turkey processing plant into oil. The process generates 8x the energy it consumes. The closed process is non-polluting.

see:
http://www.changingworldtech.com/information_center/faq.asp#8

A experimental plant using this process successfully runs on muncipal waste and sewage solids. It is has been estimated that this technology could recover enough hydrocarbons from domestic wastes to replace all oil imports.

Again, the only issue is cost.

Be wary of people bringing an alarming worry who also insist on solving a problem by increasing the size of government and reducing your rights to choose what you can buy, where you can live, and how you live your life.

[pattern-of-freedom]

Indeed. I had the pleasure of know Mr. Kunstler as as undergraduate. His rep for acid trips remains etched in his illogic to this day.