Liberal Rapture

Saw this small but lively protest in Hollywood today - at the corner of Vine and Santa Monica Blvd. Regular unleaded is now $4.75 in LA. I appreciate these folks. But of all the sad delusions Americans have - the idea that congress has the interest, power, or ability to address the cost oil may be the most dangerous and disheartening of all.

There is certainly a speculative oil bubble of sorts - but the driving force in the price of oil is simple - so simple in fact that the implications are terrifying. World supply cannot be counted on to meet world demand. Oil production has peaked in many nations including ours (in 1970) - it appears to be peaking in the world right now.

If this does not scare you - it ought to. We live, eat, and breathe oil. And there is NO alternative to it. NONE. (except a mass die off of about 3 billion people, in which case there is plenty of oil to go around.)

From Global Public Media:

expect to see world leaders, politicians, business chiefs and the mainstream in general realizing and admitting that something new is happening. Years of dismissing the rising oil price as part of the normal economic cycle should now suddenly give way to an understanding that cheap oil is dead. We should also see business leaders and the UN begin to grapple with the implications of a permanently declining oil supply.

Friday, June 13, 2008