Body:
Published June 1st 2005 in "The Beaudesert Shire Times" & "The Jimboomba Times" (population around 71,000 in the circulation area):-
Seems the party's over. As Mike Jameson said in "Letters" last week, oil's running out. Both Mike's piece, and Brian Randall's letter of May 11 were right. Local production, alternative energy and usable public transport aren't pipe dreams, they're neccesities. Heard of "Peak Oil" anyone? An American Geologist named Dr. M. King Hubbert coined the term in the 1950's. He was poo pooed when he said US oil production would "peak" around 1970, but that's just what happened. In 1971, the US produced more oil than it ever had before, and their output has declined ever since. So, when are we due for global "Peak Oil"? Right about now was Hubbert's prediction. The guy died in 1989, but other experts say he was spot on. Colin Campbell, a retired oil geologist, is one of them. He gave a key address about the problem to the British House of Commons in July 1999. Seems for every four barrels we're using, only one new barrel is being discovered - plus the "new" oil is of lesser quality (more refining costs), and in harder to reach places. When it takes a barrel of oil to extract/refine a barrel of oil, the game's up. Of course, plastics, fertilisers, pesticides and our entire financial system were born from easy access to cheap oil, so it's scary to say the least. "Running out" is not the ultimate issue, as even a small difference between world demand, and world availability, is enough to cause chaos. One of our own State politicians, Andrew McNamara of Hervey Bay, made a recent brave speech about our dilemma. Unfortunately, the main stream media in Queensland met it with a wall of silence. Andrew said "Peak oil is coming soon and no alternative energy source available to us today or in the foreseeable future is going to make up the total energy shortfall. The beginning of the end of the oil age is upon us, and it is time to respond fully to that challenge." And if you think petrol's dear now, you've seen nothing yet. Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest global investment bankers on the planet, is predicting a coming "spike" of $105 a barrel. Politicians generally plan as far as the next election, and companies plan as far as their next profit statement. There's no "Plan B," there's no "they" who are going to save us ordinary working plebs from the coming storms. We have to do that ourselves from the grass roots up. Anyone who's interested in forming a local "Peak Oil" action group, or in other words, a cluster of people interested in creating solutions, can email me on kim_bax@yahoo.com.au It would probably be easier to create a local "meeting space" on-line (due to people's commitments), with a few physical meeting and public forums.
Published June 1st 2005 in "The Beaudesert Shire Times" & "The Jimboomba Times" (population around 71,000 in the circulation area):-
Seems the party's over. As Mike Jameson said in "Letters" last week, oil's running out. Both Mike's piece, and Brian Randall's letter of May 11 were right. Local production, alternative energy and usable public transport aren't pipe dreams, they're neccesities. Heard of "Peak Oil" anyone? An American Geologist named Dr. M. King Hubbert coined the term in the 1950's. He was poo pooed when he said US oil production would "peak" around 1970, but that's just what happened. In 1971, the US produced more oil than it ever had before, and their output has declined ever since. So, when are we due for global "Peak Oil"? Right about now was Hubbert's prediction. The guy died in 1989, but other experts say he was spot on. Colin Campbell, a retired oil geologist, is one of them. He gave a key address about the problem to the British House of Commons in July 1999. Seems for every four barrels we're using, only one new barrel is being discovered - plus the "new" oil is of lesser quality (more refining costs), and in harder to reach places. When it takes a barrel of oil to extract/refine a barrel of oil, the game's up. Of course, plastics, fertilisers, pesticides and our entire financial system were born from easy access to cheap oil, so it's scary to say the least. "Running out" is not the ultimate issue, as even a small difference between world demand, and world availability, is enough to cause chaos. One of our own State politicians, Andrew McNamara of Hervey Bay, made a recent brave speech about our dilemma. Unfortunately, the main stream media in Queensland met it with a wall of silence. Andrew said "Peak oil is coming soon and no alternative energy source available to us today or in the foreseeable future is going to make up the total energy shortfall. The beginning of the end of the oil age is upon us, and it is time to respond fully to that challenge." And if you think petrol's dear now, you've seen nothing yet. Goldman Sachs, one of the biggest global investment bankers on the planet, is predicting a coming "spike" of $105 a barrel. Politicians generally plan as far as the next election, and companies plan as far as their next profit statement. There's no "Plan B," there's no "they" who are going to save us ordinary working plebs from the coming storms. We have to do that ourselves from the grass roots up. Anyone who's interested in forming a local "Peak Oil" action group, or in other words, a cluster of people interested in creating solutions, can email me on kim_bax@yahoo.com.au It would probably be easier to create a local "meeting space" on-line (due to people's commitments), with a few physical meeting and public forums.
