I'm not an environmentalist, but I know a petroleum engineer. He said that there's a reason a lot of companies are trying to create hybrid cars, etc, because "Peak Oil" essentially means that many large reserves around the world have already peaked in production, and even if we do drill in the Gulf of Mexico, this would create a minimal increase that peak oil in the middle east and other regions would more than offset, still resulting in inevitable price hikes. Also, it would take literally a decade to set up rigs, etc. and by that time, population expansion and depleting reserves elsewhere will actually leave us still further behind.
He said that's why China is investing hundreds of billions of dollars in alternative energy, because petroleum in the future will be a "death sentence for any economy, emerging or developed"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil#Oil_field_decline
I dunno, long term, isn't oil dependence going to destroy an economy? I mean consider the mathematics behind it. Demand will keep increasing as supply keeps decreasing, and inevitably a country without an alternative will be completely screwed.
Trader Will: Ok... then why are the managers of the largest oil fields in the world, and their engineers saying we're going to peak? Do you know something they don't? Why do you think production levels in most of the world's largest fields are in decline? I think China *wants* us to stay on oil, because rising prices will damage our economy. That's just a hunch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predicting_the_timing_of_peak_oil#Peak_oil_for_individual_nations
He said that's why China is investing hundreds of billions of dollars in alternative energy, because petroleum in the future will be a "death sentence for any economy, emerging or developed"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil#Oil_field_decline
I dunno, long term, isn't oil dependence going to destroy an economy? I mean consider the mathematics behind it. Demand will keep increasing as supply keeps decreasing, and inevitably a country without an alternative will be completely screwed.
Trader Will: Ok... then why are the managers of the largest oil fields in the world, and their engineers saying we're going to peak? Do you know something they don't? Why do you think production levels in most of the world's largest fields are in decline? I think China *wants* us to stay on oil, because rising prices will damage our economy. That's just a hunch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predicting_the_timing_of_peak_oil#Peak_oil_for_individual_nations