The Origins of Peak Oil Doomerism

Energy Bulletin ^ | 6 Dec 2006 | Toby Hemenway

[SunkenCiv]

People in the Peak Oil movement chafe at the label of doomer, but many of us do have an apocalyptic bent. Although plenty of Peak Oil commentary is sober analysis, a survey of the major websites and books quickly brings up apocalyptic titles like dieoff.org, oilcrash.com, The Death of the Oil Economy, The End of Suburbia, and The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight. Peak Oil writings are sprinkled with predictions that billions will die, civil order will collapse, and even that civilization will end. Scientists, too, aren't immune. During geologist Ken Deffeyes's Peak Oil presentations, he displays the words "war," "famine," "pestilence," and "death"—the four horsemen of the apocalypse. The Right, the saying goes, has the Left Behind books, and the Left has Peak Oil. Both predict that the end is near... The path to "end of the world" thinking is well trod, most heavily so in times of oppression, uncertainty, and corruption. But perhaps some of us can recognize how familiar is this dark road, resist the natural urge to repeat the story once more, and remember that there are many routes into the future other than the one toward the lowest common denominator.

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

G'night all.

[spanalot]

I'm not dead yet.

[rbg81]

I think these guys have seen "The Road Warrior" one too many times.

[SunkenCiv]

Oil prices poised to drop sharply, energy consultant says-(1.15/gal)
contracostatimes | Wed, Sep. 13, 2006 | Kevin G. Hall
Posted on 09/13/2006 9:56:52 PM EDT by Flavius
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1701085/posts

Really, Really Cheap Oil
Forbes.com | Christopher Helman
Posted on 10/11/2006 12:39:13 PM EDT by BenLurkin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1717525/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Or Waterworld. Oh wait, it's not possible to see that too many times. ;')

[SunkenCiv]

I can't argue with that. :')

[Fred Nerks]

"Imagine a future without dry land. A future where the earth, covered in water, has evolved into a gritty, nautical society held together by determination and ingenuity. The inhabitants of this once-flourishing planet cling to life on incredible floating cities, their existence constantly threatened by Smokers-- bands of marauding pirates who roam the featureless surface of Waterworld."

http://www.movieweb.com/movies/film/66/1366/summary.php

Brillant movie!

[Brad from Tennessee]

I was watching the Weather Channel--who seems to be on the Al Gore bandwagon--over the weekend. They had some environmental program and talked about alternative fuels. They said oil would peak in the next 30 or 40 years.

[Brad from Tennessee]

I went back and looked at the rest of this website. It's interesting.

[SunkenCiv]

Nah, oil production has already peaked, and is in such a precipitous decline that soon, only Gwyneth Paltrow and other undeservedly wealthy people will be able to drive around in an SUV.

[Roy Tucker]

How do the Smokers grow the tobacco if there is no dry land?

[theBuckwheat]

Peak Oil is really about the price and availability of vehicle fuels about as much as Global Warming is really about hot summers.

Both are socialist (liberty and prosperity-destroying) schemes attempting to cloak themselves in ways that would cause any rational soccer mom to worry.

In the case of "peak oil", even the name displays ignorance of both hydrocarbon-based fuels and economics. The United States is awash and afloat in hydrocarbons that can be converted, for a price, into liquid fuels suitable for cars and trucks. And that price is hardly much higher than we have already become used to paying for gasoline and diesel fuel.

[period end of story]

Proudly burning midnight oil.

[Fred Nerks]

LOL! Dunno. It's just a movie. How do they grow food, hmmm?

[scrabblehack]

the first I heard of Peak Oil was on Coast to Coast AM.

[Fred Nerks]

You may find this thread of interest:

Prospecting for Oil? Look In an Asteroid Crater

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1715648/posts

[SunkenCiv]

Well put.