PLENTY OF OIL ON EARTH IT'S JUST REAL EXPENSIVE

So, I've blogged a lot about Peak Oil. It's the idea that eventually (some say very soon) the Earth will reach it's peak oil production. That is to say, at some point, the Earth will put out the highest amount of oil it's been able to put out in a day and then the Earth won't be able to reach that amount ever again. It is significant because it's warning us that after oil production peaks, there will be less and less oil. This means prices will go up and up. Now, the pro-Peak-Oilers think that peak oil is happenning right now or will happen in the next 5-10 years or so. However, these people are often called alarmists by many people from many different leanings. Recently, I stumbled across an article that seems to be in the latter group. Have a look at [http://upi.com/NewsTrack/view.php?StoryID=20061020-044158-9693r|this very short article dated October 20, 2006] from UPI.com:

A University of Washington economic geologist says there is lots of crude oil left for human use. Eric Cheney said Friday in a news release that changing economics, technological advances and efforts such as recycling and substitution make the world's mineral resources virtually infinite. For instance, oil deposits unreachable 40 years ago can be tapped using improved technology, and oil once too costly to extract from tar sands, organic matter or coal is now worth manufacturing. Though some resources might be costlier now, they still are needed. "The most common question I get is, 'When are we going to run out of oil?' The correct response is, 'Never,'" said Cheney. "It might be a heck of a lot more expensive than it is now, but there will always be some oil available at a price, perhaps $10 to $100 a gallon." Cheney also said that gasoline prices today, adjusted for inflation, are about what they were in the early part of the last century. Current prices seem inordinately high, he said, because crude oil was at an extremely low price, $10 a barrel, eight years ago and now fetches around $58 a barrel.

This Eric Cheney guy is full of shit and here's why: 1) He says we're not ever going to run out of oil but that oil will be very expensive. So, what's the difference? Isn't the practical matter till the same? A lack of affordable oil? 2) He compares the price of gas now to the price of gas in the early 1900s. The thing is, he doesn't bother to compare average salaries and the cost of living today to average salaries and the cost of living in the early 1900s. In fact, most anti-Peak-Oil folks fail to thoroughly cover all of their bases and sadly most pro-Peak-Oil people do the same. It's a shame, really, because comparing the current price of gas, living and our labor to the price of those things over the last century might point out to people how our economy and our economic system is thoroughly letting us down and will only continue to do so as time goes on. One last thing. So if we KNOW oil is going to be getting even more expensive, regardless of your political bent, wouldn't it make sense to explore some alternative energy options? Or should we just allow the "we've got plenty of oil" argument rationalize us into economic oblivion?

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