If you think of peak oil in terms of an end to cheap and risk-free
oil extraction, like during the heyday of Texas gushers, then this
all begins to make sense, as well as cry out for an alternative
energy policy carried out under socialism:
BP-Style Extreme Energy Nightmares to Come
Four Scenarios for the Next Energy Mega-Disaster
By Michael T. Klare
On June 15th, in their testimony before the House Energy and
Commerce Committee, the chief executives of America’s leading oil
companies argued that BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf
of Mexico was an aberration -- something that would not have
occurred with proper corporate oversight and will not happen again
once proper safeguards are put in place. This is fallacious, if
not an outright lie. The Deep Horizon explosion was the
inevitable result of a relentless effort to extract oil from ever
deeper and more hazardous locations. In fact, as long as the
industry continues its relentless, reckless pursuit of “extreme
energy” -- oil, natural gas, coal, and uranium obtained from
geologically, environmentally, and politically unsafe areas --
more such calamities are destined to occur.
At the onset of the modern industrial era, basic fuels were
easy to obtain from large, near-at-hand energy deposits in
relatively safe and friendly locations. The rise of the
automobile and the spread of suburbia, for example, were made
possible by the availability of cheap and abundant oil from large
reservoirs in California, Texas, and Oklahoma, and from the
shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico. But these and equivalent
deposits of coal, gas, and uranium have been depleted. This means
the survival of our energy-centric civilization increasingly
relies on supplies obtained from risky locations -- deep
underground, far at sea, north of the Arctic circle, in complex
geological formations, or in unsafe political environments. That
guarantees the equivalent of two, three, four, or more
Gulf-oil-spill-style disasters in our energy future.
Back in 2005, the CEO of Chevron, David O’Reilly, put the
situation about as bluntly as an oil executive could. “One thing
is clear,” he said, “the era of easy oil is over. Demand is
soaring like never before… At the same time, many of the world’s
oil and gas fields are maturing. And new energy discoveries are
mainly occurring in places where resources are difficult to
extract, physically, economically, and even politically.”
O’Reilly promised then that his firm, like the other energy
giants, would do whatever it took to secure this “difficult
energy” to satisfy rising global demand. And he proved a man of
his word. As a result, BP, Chevron, Exxon, and the rest of the
energy giants launched a drive to obtain traditional fuels from
hazardous locations, setting the stage for the Gulf of Mexico oil
disaster and those sure to follow. As long as the industry stays
on this course, rather than undertaking the transition to an
alternative energy future, more such catastrophes are inevitable,
no matter how sophisticated the technology or scrupulous the
oversight.
full:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175264/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_the_coming_era_of_energy_disasters/
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