Say hello To Peak Oil

Peak Oil is here. At a time when we should be reducing consumption it's on the rise along with the price.
Rising Demand for Oil Provokes New Energy Crisis

With oil prices approaching the symbolic threshold of $100 a barrel, the world is headed toward its third energy shock in a generation. But today’s surge is fundamentally different from the previous oil crises, with broad and longer-lasting global implications.

Just as in the energy crises of the 1970s and ’80s, today’s high prices are causing anxiety and pain for consumers, and igniting wider fears about the impact on the economy.

Unlike past oil shocks, which were caused by sudden interruptions in exports from the Middle East, this time prices have been rising steadily as demand for gasoline grows in developed countries, as hundreds of millions of Chinese and Indians climb out of poverty and as other developing economies grow at a sizzling pace.

“This is the world’s first demand-led energy shock,” said Lawrence Goldstein, an economist at the Energy Policy Research Foundation of Washington.

Of course the right wingers solution is to drill more. Even if that were the answer, which it's not, it's too late. Any new areas that might be tapped are eight to ten years away from production. What was required was a project to find alternatives to oil 20 plus years ago. Any hope for that died when Ronald Reagan was elected. It's too late now and the US and world economies will have to suffer the very real and very unpleasant results.