Apocalypse denial in America  

The amount of recoverable oil in the world is dependent on price. We may be running out of $25/bbl. oil. We are no where near running out of $100/bbl. oil. We will have to change our habits. High priced oil will help.

If Thomas Gold is correct about the origins of oil (outer space) we may have 100X as much oil in the ground as has already been discovered.

There have been energy panics for as long as I have been alive - 60 years - as far as I can tell energy fear is just a fund raising/political technique. Get the sheep running and then fleece them.

Before the current global warming panics we had global cooling panics.

The folks in the most trouble re: oil prices are the Chinese whose energy input per unit of output is 6X that of America. BTW that 6X figure for China is increasing. Basically they are doing what the Soviet Union did - despoiling the environment for additional economic output.

Forested land is increasing in America and decreasing in China. Must be the evils of capitalism.

Energy Panics

m. simon -

The world is finite in size.

Oil reserves are finite.

Oil isn't abiotic and doesn't come from outer space.

Given that oil is finite at some point we will use it all up - the study of peak oil is the study of how long it will take to use the available oil and what shape the production/consumption profile takes - along with the all the other issues associated with less available oil.

Please go to Energy Bulletin and read their "Peak Oil Primer" before making any more of these bizarre outbursts.

And as for global warming - please go to RealClimate and educate yourself - you sound demented.