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Politics : Rat's Nest - Chronicles of Collapse -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mannie who wrote (7629)	5/14/2008 12:57:01 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24213

Well, if they want to put one in by you, I won't protest. What I really think is a whole lot of people are gonna commit to a whole lot of nukes, and when they get there, they will find a severe fuel shortage. Message 24294667 Message 23387793 And, when they try and build them in the first place, there is a bottleneck...like 4 a year...????!!!! Message 24567323

To: Mannie who wrote (7629)	7/2/2008 11:17:49 AM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24213

Learn to live with higher fuel prices JAMES W. MURRAY AND JIM HANSEN GUEST COLUMNISTS In response to complaints about the high price of gas, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., last week held their 40th hearing of the year concerning high oil prices, which have doubled in the past year. Global oil production has plateaued while demand has increased sharply (especially in China and India). The hearings focused on secondary factors such as speculation, value of the dollar and restrictions on outer continental shelf exploration/production rather than the main cause, which is the imbalance between supply and demand. If the demand for oil continues to outpace the growth in supplies in the future, it may be time to stop hoping that the price of goes down and start figuring out how to adapt to higher-priced fuel. Seattle and King County should follow Portland's example. That city established a Peak Oil Task Force in 2006, and had a report from that group last March that evaluated the city's preparedness for high-priced oil and goals for reducing fossil fuel use. If we don't do this planning now, this region will just move from one shock-driven tipping point to another. So just what is "Peak Oil"? That's the name given to the time when oil production reaches a maximum. It also corresponds to when we've extracted half of the world's oil reserves. U.S. oil production peaked in 1970. Global production will peak soon if it hasn't already. It is important to emphasize that peaking of oil does not mean "running out" of oil. There will still be large reserves of oil but they will be more difficult and expensive to extract. Unfortunately, even the size of those so-called proven reserves is uncertain, as they have never been independently confirmed. The easy oil has been extracted first at low cost with high net energy yields. The lower energy yields and more costly production of Canadian tar sands and oil fields in the deep water Gulf of Mexico are two clear examples of the more difficult sources. As a consequence, if the demand continues to increase against either a plateau or decline in production, there will be an inevitable increase in price. At the same time, many of the producing countries are consuming more of their own oil so that the net exporting capacity is decreasing sharply. The impacts of Peak Oil on regional, national and global economies will be significant and manifested in the complex systems of daily life such as where we live and the way we travel, how we produce food and how we conduct commerce and trade. Impacts can also be clearly seen in the changes rippling through the airline and trucking industries. With the era of inexpensive transportation fuels ending, the way society's transportation systems are structured and functions will need to change. If the Peak Oil arguments are correct, there is no combination of technologies that can plug the magnitude and timing of the energy gap. Instead we need scenario-based planning and effective energy policies at all levels of government in order to adapt. The Puget Sound region is debating multibillion-dollar transportation alternatives. For the region of the future we need modes of transportation that use less oil. We have to plan for how to adapt with the realization that what we do locally will not affect the global supply or demand or price of oil It is difficult to predict how fast the price of oil will increase, but we know that it will and that the economic impacts will be serious. We need to learn how to live with what will come. Mitigation of the consequences will require foresight and planning. The high energy prices of the future will require a change in lifestyle that will include less dependence on liquid fuel. That will include much less private transportation and more public or mass transportation. This will involve a reorganization of where people live. There will be development of urban villages where people live, work and shop in close proximity. It will include eating seasonal foods grown locally. The changes will be difficult. King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia recently said it clearly: "The oil boom is over and will not return. All of us must get used to a different lifestyle." James W. Murray of the UW School of Oceanography is the founding director of the UW Program on Climate Change. Jim Hansen is an investment consultant and member of the Association for Study of Peak Oil & Gas. seattlepi.nwsource.com