50 dollars a barrel, folks
Sharon September 29th, 2004
Ok, does anyone out there really believe that we aren’t on the precipice of peak oil? My economist buddy, Steve, told me last spring that there was no way that oil was going to keep rising to $50 per barrel. Not a chance.
Guess what, we’re here. There is already evidence that the poorest people in the US
(G-d help the poorest people in the rest of the world) are going to have to start choosing between heat and food. How long before the rest of us feel the cold?
We’ve built an economy on oil. Not only do we need oil for nearly everything, but we need it to be cheap. We need oil to pump our water and remove our wastes, to warm our houses and cook our dinners, to get us to our jobs and to visit our parents in the Home. We need oil to grow our food and transport our starlink corn to the feedlots.
And when the oil prices start to rise, the turtle tower (think Yertle) starts to rock. What happens when we have to choose - food or gas, heat or sewage disposal? What happens when all those jobs supported by suburban sprawl can’t heat those buildings or get their employees to work? What happens when the economy teeters and crashes, and there is no more cheap oil to raise it up again?
I don’t think we really can fix this one anymore. Not by electing the right president, not by conservation (although it would certainly help), not by invading more countries. All we can do is be the youngest, weakest fairy godmother at the baptism, softening the curse a little. We can soften it for our children and hopefully our grandchildren by personal preparation. We can soften it for our communities with planning, for our nation by conservation, but we cannot fix it, and every minute we let slip by, every day we waste because we don’t want to change our lives, every act of education we (I) forgo, we make the curse a little darker, longer and deeper.
Damnit, get cracking folks!!! Don’t wait for Colin Campbell’s $286 per barrel.
Sharon
- Uncategorized
- Comments(12)
Hi Sharon
Thanks for the pointer to your blog on ROE2. I am interested in starting a dialogue in the blogosphere about peak oil but I haven’t seen much in my wanderings so far. I will try to keep up with your writings and comment when I have something to add. I have a blog as well but it is mainly just a news link collector and I have only occasionally commented on the peak oil phenomenon. I am hoping to move it more towards that subject in the future. We just had an eruption of Mt. St. Helens here in Washington State so that is what everybody is talking about today. Take care.
Bill (murredoubt.blogspot.com)
Bill, stay safe if you are anywhere near MSH!!!
And thanks for trying to get things going on peak oil in blog-world. Let me know if I can help!!!
Sharon
Cool blog you have. I have a cash money lil` wayne related site. Check it out if you get a chance. The URL is cash money lil` wayne
Very cool blog you got! I just added you to my bookmarks!
I have a great article resource you might want to check out.
How would you like to know about a Beauty Fitness resource, that displays all the Beauty Fitness information on one website? Check out
Beauty Fitness today. Not only do they have a good fitness book section, but they also have great articles on fitness. I was really impressed with the resources their webmster put together.
Last month I made $12,124 with Google Adsense…Click
here for free on how you can do the same!
Your blog is great If you ever need container gardening roses related stuff, I’m sure you’d be interested in container gardening roses
Hi Thanks for your interesting blog. I also have a blog/site, covering calculator car citreon loan
related stuff. Feel free to visit my calculator car citreon loan
site.
Wow! While I was searching for info on usa baby store I somehow found your page. Obviously I ended up a little off base, but I am certainly glad I stopped by for a read. While I am here, I just wanted to drop a quick note to comment your blog…now to move on and continue my search for usa baby store. Should you ever need it, there’s lots of information on this site about usa baby store.
Today I was out blog surfing looking for detailed info on baby christening gift when I found your page. Your site is not an exact match but it did catch my interest. I am going to add you to my favorite list of blogs for future reading and reference. Should you ever need information on baby christening gift then drop by the site above and check it out.
As I was surfing around today looking for detailed info on baby dress shoes I somehow ended up on your page. As your site is not exactly related to my search, I am certainly glad I stopped by. Oh well, back to surfing and I am sure I will find what I am looking for, and should you ever need information about baby dress shoes, then stop by for a look. Thanks for the post.
Now here we are, four years after you wrote this post, and $150 a barrel is just around the corner. Remember when we thought $50 was expensive? I guess it just makes all the things you blog about even more important.