Some of the arguments presented here make me think of the Y2K problem. Lots of money and labor went in to rewriting software before the end of 1999. New Year's Day 2000 came and nothing bad happened. So, was all that time and money wasted, or were the problems averted because of all the effort that went in to solving it?
The same question can be asked about population, climate and oil issues. Are the 'doom sayers' premature, or does the saying of doom delay the doom?
I found
this oil statistics site, with lots of interesting data, while searching for US oil consumption and information on the Bakken Formation (inspired by UT's user title). The following quote incited me to come to the Cellar and look for a Peak Oil thread in which to post it:
Quote:
By way of background, in the late 1990s I really thought the "peak oil" people were crazy, or at least "doomsayers" and pessimists. Oil exploration people (like me) tend to be optimistic - you have to be, since you fail so often. But in the past 5 to 7 years, I've come to feel, largely through creating this compilation, that the "peak oil" people are a lot closer to right than are the "sweetness-and-light-and-nothing-is-really-wrong" crowd. I don't KNOW that - but based on what I can see and read with my own eyes, there is little question that Americans' oil guzzling will bring us to a fall, likely sooner rather than later. So, there, now you know my bias. Read this page with that in mind - but please also know that I still am trying very hard to keep it as objective as possible.
—Dick Gibson
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With the dramatic increases in oil, gasoline, and (to a lesser extent) food prices since 2004, I wonder if any of the other participants in this thread have changed their views as expressed in those carefree days?