why does it have to be a specific date? couldn't it have been a slow transition?
On Wed, Jun 23, 2010 at 8:31 AM, Eugene Coyle <[email protected]> wrote: > Just what was the ending date of "cheap and risk-free oil extraction"? > > Gene Coyle > > > On Jun 23, 2010, at 6:18 AM, Louis Proyect wrote: > >> 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/ >> _______________________________________________ >> pen-l mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Jim Devine "Those who take the most from the table Teach contentment. Those for whom the taxes are destined Demand sacrifice. Those who eat their fill speak to the hungry of wonderful times to come. Those who lead the country into the abyss Call ruling too difficult For ordinary folk." – Bertolt Brecht. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
