Redstate

"The 'Oil Age' won't end for lack of oil any more than Man's Stone Age ended for lack of stones. Something new and better always comes along." --paraphrasing Bjørn Lomborg

Metals are elements. Hard to create, hard to destroy. Almost all the Gold ever mined still exists as a human artifact.

Oil is a chemical compound made up of various hydrocarbons (Hydrogen, Oxygen and Carbon) and *can* be created or destroyed.

Crude Oil is a naturally occurring liquid hydrocarbon.

Peak Oil is refers to production of Crude Oil.

Peak Oil is not about synthesis of Hydrocarbons.

It is not about the production of downstream hydrocarbons (like gas) from Oil Shale, Tar Sands, Nuclear Power, Solar Energy or Ethanol.

The production of Crude Oil from an Oil Field, Country, Planet, peaks. If it does not something is making new Crude Oil.

Peak production of Crude Oil from a bounded area is not a bogus theory. The alternative is the existence of magically productive Oil Pixies (perhaps bacteria).

The US produces half the crude oil it produced 37 years ago in 1970, and produces the same as it did in 1947, 60 years ago.

I would be curious if any facts can be disproved from this article about the Kern River and Peak Oil. http://www.energybulletin.net/26911.html It does get a little alarmist at the end so please… I have tried such links before and have been met with Ad Hominem attacks… be forewarned I won’t be your monkey.

Why are you always making this a political issue?

If you look at the history of the oil industry, I mean even going way back to whale oil as a commodity, you will see that it is characterized by the most extreme boom and busts. We always seem to be running out, but never do.

"Nothing works like freedom, Nothing succeeds like liberty"
Kyle

or not running out of oil. Its about gradually moving to SOMETHING else besides hydrocarbons to help alleviate the environmental impact of pumping billions upon billions of tons of unnecessary gases into the atmosphere every year.

I really don't like to debate issues like Peak Oil in partisan terms. It doesn't further the debate at all. So instead, I offer you this....

Matthew Simmons has been an energy advisor to Bush/Cheney over the years. Simmons believes the theory of Peak Oil needs to be discussed in more serious terms in a non partisan fashion. (I suppose thats why Cheney asked for his advice)

I used to have a rigid position on this issue similar to that of Pejman's. But after reading much of Simmon's work on the subject, now I'm willing to listen to both sides of the argument. Its a far more complicated subject than most care to understand, not worthy of simple sound bites and campaign slogans from the left or right.