I think one of the biggest problems in this country is we need to start getting something done other then filtering through and corresponding to e-mails, sending and receiving text messages, and spending all day and night chatting away on cell phones.

fwacbar @ 3:

"The CEO of a Houston investment bank says Peak Oil is real and happening now."

The more I read about "Peak Oil", the more convinced I become that we are indeed experiencing it right now. We are fighting two wars over oil, Iraqs and access to the oil in the old Soviet "stan" regions. The price of oil is going thru the roof. After the next election, when the oild companies start to pass all that higher cost directly to the consumers, the economy will tank. Consumption will then come into line with production, and the days of 10 miles to the gallon will be long gone. At $5 per gallon (or more), easy motoring will be a thing of the past.....

My god what will Americans do if easy motoring is no longer viable because they can't think of anything else to do on any kind of creative level. Good lord people may actually have to think about their driving habits.

I should add that energy issues including peak oil are largely what got me interested in politics in 2000/2001.

It was the most underrated issue in America back at that time in my opinion. You could argue it still is.

Americans aren't willing to get rid of their SUVs and republicans go buy them to be defiant. I have neighbors who leave the doors to their house open in the summer while the air conditioning is on. All day. I have family members who won't turn lights off and can't fathom taking a shower that is 2 degrees less in boiling temperature.

Nothing will change because Americans aren't willing to.

I encourage everyone reading Crooks & Liars to educate themselves and do a self-study on peak oil. There are plenty of resources available online for this. What you find will scare you shitless.

Some excerpts from http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

"In practical and considerably oversimplified terms, this means that if 2005 was the year of global Peak Oil, worldwide oil production in the year 2030 will be the same as it was in 1980. However, the world’s population in 2030 will be both much larger (approximately twice) and much more industrialized (oil-dependent) than it was in 1980. Consequently, worldwide demand for oil will outpace worldwide production of oil by a significant margin. As a result, the price will skyrocket, oil dependant economies will crumble, and resource wars will explode."

We're seeing the beginning of these resource wars now.

"The issue is not one of "running out" so much as it is not having enough to keep our economy running ... The effects of even a small drop in production can be devastating. For instance, during the 1970s oil shocks, shortfalls in production as small as 5% caused the price of oil to nearly quadruple. The same thing happened in California a few years ago with natural gas: a production drop of less than 5% caused prices to skyrocket by 400%.

Fortunately, those price shocks were only temporary. The coming oil shocks won't be so short lived."

Britain has denied asylum to Uzbek dissident Jahongir Sidikov and plans to send him back where he will face torture. Former British Ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray is trying to mobilize support for Sidikov before it’s too late.

*************************************

I wonder if Murray is the person who revealed to the world the information that the leader of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov, is not unknown to have his political opponents boiled alive -- that person is described as having been a former British ambassador to Uzbekistan.

Makes waterboarding seem like child's play, doesn't it? However, that hasn't stopped the United States from forming an alliance with Karimov in the War On Terror in exchange for access to an airbase there AND "extraordinary rendition". Interesting, isn't it? Once the hard evidence for WMD in Iraq failed to manifest itself, what did our ostensible reason for going into Iraq suddenly become? An effort to liberate the Iraqi people from a dictator who tortured his people...while conveniently downplaying the fact that in the process, we were allying ourselves with at least one other dictator who was doing pretty much the same thing! Let's face it -- Americans are shameless hypocrites when it comes to our foreign policy. We're all too happy to clamor about human rights violations when it suits our purposes to do so -- but we're also all too happy to turn a blind eye to them as well when it suits our purposes to do so.

I love my country...but it's at times like this that I love it largely in spite of itself, much in the same way that I might love a deeply dysfunctional family member who refuses to seek psychological help.

Hi Bob,

1. Nice Blog you have there. I've bookmarked it for future visits.
2. There's a quote from Simmons in the referenced article: "Major oil companies have quadrupled their spending over the past five years and, other than acquisitions, basically they're in liquidation."
Where might we find more information about this? I had no idea the Big Four Oil Cos were facing liquidation. Is that verifiable?
3. The Ann Arbor news is depressing. The most depressing thing to me is that the police didn't have the since to stop beating the poor guy even after he had been clearly neutralized. Is that a policeman's job - to beat up unconscious people? Along with that is the fact that standing for peace and trying to help your fellow man are now apparently crimes in Ann Arbor.
4. Kevin Rudd - he'll have a honeymoon period no doubt. We'll see how much change he brings to Australia.
5. I hate hearing that Britain, following in the US's footsteps has decided that torture is a desirable way to threat people.

What I'm getting from all this is
a. advocating for peace is a crime
b. it's OK to beat protesters unconscious, then deny them help from fellow citizens
c. protesters should be rendered off to be tortured

Says nice things about our governments, doesn't it?

Typos in comment 12 - Item 3 "since" should be "sense". Item 5. "threat" should be "treat".

Whens the last time you heard any of these Candidates from either party make the ECONOMY the number one campaign issue?

"IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID" Remember that?

What the hell you think Bill Clinton won on?

They know! They know we are in a bad JAM and DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT.

People should be out there demanding. What the hell are you going to do to rescue this country from bankruptcy Mrs Clinton, Mr. Romney, Mr Rudy, Obama.

Right, just change the subject or give us your best deaf and dumb smile. Or how bout, "Oh the economy. Thats right! How could we have forgotten that? If there's a problem out there we certainly haven't heard of it! According to our advisers and what the news says the economy is booming!"

The Catherine Wilkerson story is unnerving . Lump that in with all the taser "incidents" of late and you can see where this is leading . Police state, complete with borderline psycotic rent-a-cops given the green light to use excessive force at the first hint of protest . Stop it before it's too late . Vote for constitution defenders, not neo-nazis .

L.A. Confidential @ 4:

fwacbar @ 3:

"The CEO of a Houston investment bank says Peak Oil is real and happening now."

The more I read about "Peak Oil", the more convinced I become that we are indeed experiencing it right now. We are fighting two wars over oil, Iraqs and access to the oil in the old Soviet "stan" regions. The price of oil is going thru the roof. After the next election, when the oild companies start to pass all that higher cost directly to the consumers, the economy will tank. Consumption will then come into line with production, and the days of 10 miles to the gallon will be long gone. At $5 per gallon (or more), easy motoring will be a thing of the past.....

My god what will Americans do if easy motoring is no longer viable because they can't think of anything else to do on any kind of creative level. Good lord people may actually have to think about their driving habits.

r u saying we have legs??

kulshan @ 20:

L.A. Confidential @ 4:

fwacbar @ 3:

"The CEO of a Houston investment bank says Peak Oil is real and happening now."

The more I read about "Peak Oil", the more convinced I become that we are indeed experiencing it right now. We are fighting two wars over oil, Iraqs and access to the oil in the old Soviet "stan" regions. The price of oil is going thru the roof. After the next election, when the oild companies start to pass all that higher cost directly to the consumers, the economy will tank. Consumption will then come into line with production, and the days of 10 miles to the gallon will be long gone. At $5 per gallon (or more), easy motoring will be a thing of the past.....

My god what will Americans do if easy motoring is no longer viable because they can't think of anything else to do on any kind of creative level. Good lord people may actually have to think about their driving habits.

r u saying we have legs??

Yes, but most important we have BRAINS.

The CEO of a Houston investment bank says Peak Oil is real and happening now.

****************************

One of the interesting things about Matthew Simmonds (to whom I've been paying attention for about three years now) is that he reportedly was part of Vice President Cheney's oh-so-mysterious Energy Task Force at least for a time. That combined with the fact that the man is a Harvard MBA and has successfully run his own investment banking firm specializing in the energy industry for the past twenty years suggests that he's far from being a nutcase. Since Simmonds has been talking about Peak Oil since at least 2004 (and possibly longer), is it possible that at least part of the reason why we're in Iraq now and talking about going into Iran is because we're trying to get a stranglehold on the world's fourth largest producer of petroleum (Iran) -- perhaps because Simmonds produced convincing information which persuaded Cheney (and therefore Bush) that Peak Oil is a legitimate concern? It would also explain why Bush has pushed strongly for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

So why haven't Bush and Cheney been encouraging us to conserve, you ask -- and why haven't they been making more of an effort to get behind the development of alternative energy sources? Easy -- because if Americans are encouraged to conserve and if primary attention is paid to the development of alternative fuels, the need to establish the stranglehold on the Middle Eastern oil reserves won't be as immediate. Plus, if you're of the opinion that Bush and Cheney are looking for an excuse to establish a totalitarian government in the United States, well...there are those who believe that they're planning to use Peak Oil as part of that strategem because they're anticipating that the American people will choose to give up their civil liberties instead of their lifestyles (and based on what we've seen since Bush took office, that prediction seems to have been rather disturbingly accurate).

Peak Oil will reduce world population levels to 1-2 billion. Will you be one that makes it?

Truth Be Told @ 26:

Peak Oil will reduce world population levels to 1-2 billion. Will you be one that makes it?

Would you want to be one of the ones who makes it?

I'd most likely be working as a slave to George W. Bush.

Moreso than I am now.

FWIW, Dr. Catherine Wilkerson is charged wtih two counts of attempted "assault/resist/obstruct"--these are attempted felonies but still the charges are misdemeanors. If convicted on either count she could spend a year in jail.

I've been at two of the court hearings and I would be surprised if the prosecution doesn't ask for jail time if there is a conviction. I've also read the police reports and will be even more surprised if there is a conviction--the prosecution doesn't have much of a case but then again the charges are pretty Orwellian: You didn't actually assault or obstruct the police/EMT but we know that in your evil heart you tried to. And, no, the police don't claim that she swung and missed.

L.A. Confidential @ 4:

fwacbar @ 3:

"The CEO of a Houston investment bank says Peak Oil is real and happening now."

The more I read about "Peak Oil", the more convinced I become that we are indeed experiencing it right now. We are fighting two wars over oil, Iraqs and access to the oil in the old Soviet "stan" regions. The price of oil is going thru the roof. After the next election, when the oild companies start to pass all that higher cost directly to the consumers, the economy will tank. Consumption will then come into line with production, and the days of 10 miles to the gallon will be long gone. At $5 per gallon (or more), easy motoring will be a thing of the past.....

My god what will Americans do if easy motoring is no longer viable because they can't think of anything else to do on any kind of creative level. Good lord people may actually have to think about their driving habits.

Since you live in Southern California, it is not a matter of "thinking" about your driving habits - it's that this part of the country has been set up to depend on being able to drive. I have lived in San Francisco, New York and London and hardly ever used a car while there (didn't even have one in NY and London) but, here in So Cal. that comment is useless to anyone who has to actually leave their house to work. You can't bicycle, you can't carpool if one night you work until 5, the next night 10 and you can't dictate which one it's going to be, you can get the lowest MPG car you can find (which isn't cheap) and that will help but....this does not fix the problem - neither does "thinking" about your driving habits.

Not that anyone's gonna read this, but, uh.. Peak Oil?

Um, so there's 178 trillion barrels worth of recoverable reserves up here in Canada, with more to be found as the ice melts, and Peak Oil is still being dragged out to scare people?

Not that anyone’s gonna read this, but, uh.. Peak Oil?

Um, so there’s 178 trillion barrels worth of recoverable reserves up here in Canada, with more to be found as the ice melts, and Peak Oil is still being dragged out to scare people? -- KNW

*******************************

Um, hate to burst your bubble...but based on what I've read, most of the oil up in Canada is based in oil sands and oil shales which is quite a bit harder to extract -- and it's only to be expected that the higher cost of extraction will still be reflected in the cost to the consumer. Besides, it sounds as if you think Peak Oil means that the world is almost out of oil -- which shows that you don't really understand the concept. Peak Oil merely suggests that the world has peaked in terms of production -- but this is still a concern nevertheless because it means that every succeeding barrel of oil becomes a bit more expensive than the one which preceded it. Think of it in terms of trying to suck water through a straw -- it's easy when the glass is full, but requires greater effort when the water levels get low. Besides, even if the Canadians still have oil on reserve, the fact remains that this might not be of as much help as it sounds if (as Matthew Simmonds believes) that the figures concerning the reserves in places like Saudi Arabia and other OPEC nations do not accurately reflect the true state of affairs in these countries -- that the amount on reserve may be lower, possibly even much lower, than what has been claimed. One of the reasons for Simmonds's concerns is the fact that there is next to no hard data concerning exactly how much oil the Saudis and others have on reserve, meaning that the current numbers are at best estimates and at worst wild guesses. If Simmonds is right...needless to say, it's not pretty.

swarmofkillermonkeys @ 33:

The CEO of a Houston investment bank says Peak Oil is real and happening now.

Yeah... so? They always say that.

"PANIC!! Buy oil now, it will only get more expensive!! Gimme money!!" Bah. Whatever. Since huge unknown additions were just added to the known reserves in Venezuela, Russia, and most recently Brazil.

Again I way: whatever. Not buying it. I'm also not believing OPEC about their reserves. They are all too lazy to actually explore and confirm with all that subsidized government money, so even THEY have no idea if they are under or over estimating. They are lazy and greedy.

We can and should get off of oil ASAP. Or sooner. But there is plenty of oil out there for a while... the limiting capacity is still the refinaries, yet remember when they tried to decommission the refinarey in Bakersfield, CA to artifically pump the price? Of course not, neither does the media. What a coincidence. Yeah.

THAT is how these guys work. It is also why the keep underestimating if they have a choice, to drive up the price. For example, NOW that the price of oil is at a record, Bush is choosing to spend YOUR tax money completely filling the "Strategeric" Reserve. This has NEVER been even close to full before, and he never tried to do so when oil was cheaper, only now that it is over $100/barrel. Another coincidence. Yeah, right.

No tinfoil hat needed. Laziness. Greed. Explains everything about Bush and his good 'ol oil boys.

Good argument for being a lazy ass and doing nothing.

Back in 1998, this topic made me nervous, so I researched it. I did my own math and research. Even then it looked like Colin Campbell and Jean Laherre's predictions of a peak in 2010 were optimistic. But researchers are trained to err on the side of caution. They try not to be too alarmist, even when the data screams that they should be.

Your argument is lazy. You say, 'unknown additions', when they really aren't unknown. You've just been too lazy to look them up. And they aren't very big. The last 'elephant' field found was in the Caspian and it is too deep to be worth drilling. Brazil's new find will likely be in a similar state. The energy required to get the oil will be too close to the energy returned to make it worthwhile.

Imagine investing a dollar, to get back a dollar later. What would be the point?