Peak Oil has a very slippery slope.
Will there come a
time when the oil production reaches an all-time high that will never
be broken? Absolutely. It is almost necessarily so. Even if oil is
created abiotically, we would have to not be using it faster than it is
being created to make a difference. A century and a half of observing
the behavior of individual wells precludes that possibility.
But, does that really matter?
To someone who is addicted to the ever increasing consumption of oil, of course it matters.
As
with all addictions, most addicts have a hard time seeing beyond their
addiction. Even for those that see how their addiction is hurting them,
very few are able to overcome it on their own.
When
the addict keeps needing more and more, though, there comes a point
where they just can't get enough. When some clever heroin addicts reach
this stage, they go to a methadone clinic to reset themselves. When
some clever oil addicts reach this stage, they go camping or take a
survival course.
Hi. My name is John Wheeler. I am a
fossil fuel addict. I have been using for 45 years. I am using right
now. The device I am using was made with and even has parts from fossil
fuel, and it is powered by fossil fuel. I don't have all the answers,
but I admit I have a problem. That is the first step on the Long
Ascent.
John, I just came across your blog via JMG's, and I'm finding myself electrified by your terse lightning strikes of text. Great job! If you're not planning a book or some other more extensive form of public writing about the issues of overshoot, please consider it.
ReplyDeleteBret, thank you for your kind encouragement. For now I am only planning on writing in this blog. But I have been capturing ideas for posts and starting them -- currently I am at 69 -- and I have been slowly going through and polishing them up until I consider them ready for public consumption. At some point (if I ever get caught up) I would like to weave these posts into a book.
ReplyDeleteMy goal is to catch up at a rate of two per week, so I do encourage you to "follow" me.