the end of cheap oil
For my intergovernmental relations class I am working on a paper about public transportation (and the intergovernmental workings, political influences, etc) and part of that is the future need of a more intensive system in this country.
There is a finite amount of oil on this earth and it will only be "cheap" for so long...once we hit the peak of production, prices (due to supply) will continue up and up and up until they are so expensive that oil is too expensive to make it's existence even practical to think about. At some point, the stuff will only be practical to makers of plastics and other synthetics (albeit, suddenly much more expensive plastics and synthetics).
We are far behind on the development of alternative energy sources, especially those that will fuel transportation in this country...the transportation that brings food to market in the cities...and then disperses out to the boondocks where people now live, driving their SUVs each day while burning another 5 gallons of petrol each way. Suddenly, or at least over the matter of a couple years, people are going to find themselves very detached from all the things they need in life.
Hence the need for public transporation in the short term...something that can be increased in the space of a few years and that could (if people were willing to shed their individual automotive shells - which they just might when oil hits three, or five, or ten dollars a gallon) save on gas and maybe, maybe buy us another year or two or three before the bubble bursts.
But I came across a site via teh soapbox: The end is neigh.
sleep tight.
There is a finite amount of oil on this earth and it will only be "cheap" for so long...once we hit the peak of production, prices (due to supply) will continue up and up and up until they are so expensive that oil is too expensive to make it's existence even practical to think about. At some point, the stuff will only be practical to makers of plastics and other synthetics (albeit, suddenly much more expensive plastics and synthetics).
We are far behind on the development of alternative energy sources, especially those that will fuel transportation in this country...the transportation that brings food to market in the cities...and then disperses out to the boondocks where people now live, driving their SUVs each day while burning another 5 gallons of petrol each way. Suddenly, or at least over the matter of a couple years, people are going to find themselves very detached from all the things they need in life.
Hence the need for public transporation in the short term...something that can be increased in the space of a few years and that could (if people were willing to shed their individual automotive shells - which they just might when oil hits three, or five, or ten dollars a gallon) save on gas and maybe, maybe buy us another year or two or three before the bubble bursts.
But I came across a site via teh soapbox: The end is neigh.
sleep tight.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home