cheers…Knibbo

Spikes in the price of crude oil preceded every worldwide recession since 1972, and the 2008 spike nearly put in the world’s industrial economy in the abattoir. It hardly matters that there are nearly a trillion barrels of crude oil still in the ground: The fundamental issue is the price of oil, as well as the energy return on investment.

According to the U.S. Pentagon — echoing the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration — the world faces a shortage of about 10 million barrels per day by 2015. Such a shortage represents about a 15% decline relative to the 70 million barrels per day currently extracted and delivered to world markets. Try removing 15% of your blood in a short period of time and let me know how quickly you can get up off the floor. There will be no transfusions, only continued decline in world availability of crude oil.

It’s time to make arrangements for an ambiguous, but very local future. I doubt governments of the world will ever demonstrate appropriate leadership because they are addicted to infinite growth of the industrial economy without regard for the consequences (resource wars, environmental degradation, extinction of non-human species, and so on). Get to know your neighbors, and work with them to secure clean water and healthy food.