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by Derek J. Wilson
published in abridged form on 27 April, 2004
You (Editorial, April 22) and Bob Kay (Letters, April 22) seem not to have heard of peak oil and the fast-approaching energy crisis. You are in good company with Energy Minister Trevor Mallard, many MPs and most of the public.
So I’m a nut case. Let’s hear what some others think.
Michael Meacher, Britain’s former environmental minister, 2002: “The effects of a radically reduced oil supply on a modern economy or society are mind-blowing.”
Matthews Simmons, chief executive of the world’s largest energy investment bank, and George W Bush’s energy adviser, 2003: “The situation is desperate. This is the world’s biggest serious question.”
According to Simmons, it was past time for peak oil to become part of the public policy debate.
Asked for a solution, we were advised “to pray … Under the best of circumstances, if all prayers are answered there will be no crisis for maybe two years. After that it’s a certainty.”
Colin Campbell, international oil exploration guru, 2003: “Oil and gas are finite fossil fuels from the geological past and are inevitably subject to depletion. Eventually we must run out, but what matters more is the inevitable peak of production when growth gives way to decline. The wider implications of this historic discontinuity are colossal.”
We are a species in denial and have failed to recognise that THERE ARE NO COMBINATIONS OF ENERGY SOURCES WITHIN SIGHT THAT WILL SUPPORT A SMALL FRACTION OF THE PROFLIGATE LIFESTYLE THAT THE WEST, IN PARTICULAR, HAS GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO.
Derek J. Wilson
Khandallah