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The Peak Oil Crisis: The Leading Edge By Tom Whipple 05 November, 2010 Falls Church News-Press Do you remember the furor over drilling for oil in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge a few years back? The whole country was up in arms. At various times some 50 to 60 percent of Americans favored drilling in the area as they were told this would result in lower gas prices. Last week the USGS lowered its estimate of the amount of oil that could be extracted from the region all the way from 10 billion barrels down to less than one billion, making drilling in the area uneconomical. By the way, the amount of crude being pumped down the Alaskan pipeline now has fallen from 2 million barrels a day (b/d) when the pipeline first opened back in the 1970's to about 600,000 b/d in recent weeks. The trouble is that when the flow of oil falls below a quantity estimated to be 200-300,000 b/d (some say 500,000) the line will have to be closed as there will simply not be enough hot oil being sent down the pipeline to keep it from freezing in winter. Last week an organization in California, The Post Carbon Institute, released a new book, "The Post Carbon Reader," which draws a much broader picture of the serious issues facing mankind. With 30 authors, each specializing in some aspect of the multiple troubles we face, the scope of the book touches on nearly every aspect of our civilization that is out of balance, unsustainable, and headed for a fall. The basic proposition of the book is that the world has reached the limits of growth in terms of its population, economic activity, and the ability of the atmosphere to absorb more carbon emissions. Either the world's peoples must transform themselves into a sustainable number living in a sustainable manner or there will be many dire consequences right up to the possibility that the human race itself could become extinct. Clearly, this is serious stuff. More: http://www.countercurrents.org/whipple051110.htm

well comeback Piedro ! :-] same kind of news arised from England and Germany in the past months, mainly from military sources, dealing with a much quicker lack of oil than though. But in all bad news a good one, you're still there ! :-] :-]

Hi 'Little Rainbow' ! :-] It has been a time . . . Me here in Chile sharing the Critical News among an mayority of our inconscious population - and even sending Mail to the Presidency - and having Ideas for the (hope positive) Post-Oil World. You can see a Movement preparing for this in: http://www.transitionculture.org And in the Site of the Organization mentioned in the Article: http://www.postcarbon.com (hope that is not "org"). Happy to salute you & Berst Wishes!

Hi Piedro, thanks a lot! There is a lot to do trying to convince people not to behave like the entire earth would be their own. Here a link from Germany: Utopia, a community of strategic consumption and sustainable living http://www.utopia.de/