If this is the first time you are hearing about Peak Oil, you are among 98% of the population. ‘Peak Oil’ does not mean 'running out of oil', but rather 'running out of
cheap oil'...global
demand overtakes the ability of the oil producers to supply it in
sufficient quantity -- for the first time in our history (see the
Niagara Falls comparison in the essay below.)
This will forever change the economic dynamics of oil. Cheap Oil
has supported our very way of life, and it has been the foundation
of the global economy. Oil is crucial for our transportation, food production, economy, and basically everything that we use on a daily basis.
According to credible experts, industry insiders, geologists, and
government organizations we have reached a peak in global petroleum
production. The largest amount ever produced in a day was in May of
2005, and the largest amount of total liquids (including natural gas, tar
sands to liquids, ethanol, etc,) was in December of 2006. Supply has
been declining ever since. And the International energy Agency, in
their Medium Term Oil Market Report published in June of 2007 concluded
that we would need to find and produce an additional 15 million barrels
per day, by 2012, to meet global demand. That is the equivalent of
finding and developing oil fields the size of all of Saudi Arabia
production. Within a very short period of time there will not be enough crude oil produced to meet the World's needs, even though half the World's original supply of crude oil will still be in the ground.
[more]
Population Expansion
About 2,000 years ago, around the time of the
birth of Christ, the United Nations has estimated there were approximately
300 million human beings on the Earth. A thousand
years later, there were 310 million, or a 3/10's of 1%
increase. Just 500 years after that, the global population
had increased 65% to an estimated 1/2 billion! The 1 billion
mark was passed sometime between 1800 and 1850. Only 150
years later we have 6.5 billion human souls on the planet. The United Nations now forecasts that within 45
years, more than 9 billion people will be alive on the planet at
one time, all of them needing food.
What are we going to do? How are we going
to feed them? The US food system, alone, uses over 10
quadrillion Btu (10,551 quadrillion Joules) of energy each year, as
much as France's total annual energy consumption. Growing food
accounts for only one fifth of this. The other four-fifths is used
to move, process, package, sell, and store food after it leaves the
farm. See an article about it here.
Our Youth
The youth of the world are our future. As
the song goes..."teach them well and let them lead the
way....show them a sense of pride to make it easier....and let the
children's laughter remind us [of] the way it used to
be." I have dedicated a significant portion of my life
to this end. I have volunteered thousands and thousands of
hours to helping kids understand the world, cope with the culture,
and develop skills in leadership and service to their communities.
I have volunteered in a service center for
homeless youth, where I learned that 85% of them are on the streets
because it is SAFER than in their homes. I have led large
youth-based organizations that focus on developing leaders and
focus on helping others. In Austin, I led one youth program
that resulted in six of our kids receiving appointments to US
Military Academies in two years, and achieving more Bronze, Gold
and Silver awards in the scouting Venturing program in a single
year than all other Venture Crews in the Council combined.
Teach them well, then let them lead the way -- I encourage every
adult to participate in such a worthy cause.
