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Graeme
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Joined: Mar 04, 2005
Posts: 2557
Location: New Zealand
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 Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2008 10:06 pm Post subject: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of agenda |
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2008 - the year peak oil joins climate change at the top of the agenda?
| Quote: | As a couple of our resident peak oilers have already pointed out in comments (while some of us were off resting over the holidays), 2008 began with a bang on the peak oil front, with oil reaching US$100 on the very first day of trading in New York. While much of the mainstream media were still attributing this to geopolitics, the falling US dollar and a cold northern winter, all of which undeniably played a role, OPEC blew the whistle on the aspect which only a few are yet publicly acknowledging - demand is outstripping supply.
Today we’ve seen perhaps an even bigger shift, with the SMH reporting on page 1 that the CEO of General Motors, Rick Wagoner, opened the Detroit motor show overnight with a blunt statement that peak oil is here and the age of the petrol car is coming to an end.
Unfortunately, as far as I can see, the Herald is the only paper in Australia to have given this story any prominence. Perhaps the only one to cover it at all? Nevertheless, if Rick Wagoner is talking up the issue, it’s not going to go away, and the Rudd Government can either move now or get left behind, regardless of the lack of interest from the mainstream Australian media.
What Christine and the Greens have been advocating for some time now is a shift to a coherent and considered policy framework that addresses climate change and peak oil together. The most comprehensive statement on this so far is the report Re-Energising Australia, which you can read here. The emissions reduction targets now need upward revision in the light of the latest science and the Arctic ice melt, but the framework is nevertheless relevant. Fundamentally, we need fast action now to put Australia on track to a zero carbon future, with a short term challenge of making 2008 the year that Australia’s greenhouse emissions and oil use peak and start to come down. |
greensblog
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Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe. H. G. Wells.
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steam_cannon
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Joined: Dec 28, 2006
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Location: MA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 2:38 am Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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| Graeme wrote: | | 2008 - the year peak oil joins climate change at the top of the agenda? |
That would be interesting, if peak oil became commonly accepted!
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Hey Aaron where's the peakoil.com magazine! If peak oil is becoming mainstream we've got to get it going!  |
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kokoda
Heavy Crude
Joined: Aug 24, 2006
Posts: 420
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 4:11 am Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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If you read the article you would realise that the reporter actually used the term "peak oil" ... not the CEO of GM.
Wagoner actually said that demand was outstripping supply ... which in itself is a big admission.
In the end the whole thing was just a sales pitch to sell an electric car that will hit the markets in around 2010.
Have we hit peak oil?
Maybe.
Will GM save us with their new electric car?
Well that what they would want you to believe. |
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steam_cannon
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Joined: Dec 28, 2006
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Location: MA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:28 pm Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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| kokoda wrote: | | If you read the article you would realise that the reporter actually used the term "peak oil" ... not the CEO of GM. |
But it is significant when reporters start using the term "peak oil".
Showing people "peak oil" is mainstream
http://peakoil.com/fortopic35648.html |
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FreakOil
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Mar 04, 2007
Posts: 504
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 9:50 pm Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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| steam_cannon wrote: | | kokoda wrote: | | If you read the article you would realise that the reporter actually used the term "peak oil" ... not the CEO of GM. |
But it is significant when reporters start using the term "peak oil".
Showing people "peak oil" is mainstream
http://peakoil.com/fortopic35648.html |
Let's not get too excited. It's only a website called GreensBlog. |
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steam_cannon
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Joined: Dec 28, 2006
Posts: 2422
Location: MA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 10:40 pm Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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| FreakOil wrote: | | steam_cannon wrote: | | kokoda wrote: | | If you read the article you would realise that the reporter actually used the term "peak oil" ... not the CEO of GM. |
But it is significant when reporters start using the term "peak oil".
Showing people "peak oil" is mainstream
http://peakoil.com/fortopic35648.html |
Let's not get too excited. It's only a website called GreensBlog. |
Yes, but Jim Jubak is MSN.
Showing people "peak oil" is mainstream
http://peakoil.com/fortopic35648.html |
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FreakOil
Intermediate Crude
Joined: Mar 04, 2007
Posts: 504
Location: Hong Kong
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2008 11:05 pm Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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| Aha! Maybe the world isn't such a crappy, stupid place after all. |
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steam_cannon
Expert
Joined: Dec 28, 2006
Posts: 2422
Location: MA
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| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 12:01 am Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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| FreakOil wrote: | | Aha! Maybe the world isn't such a crappy, stupid place after all. |
No no, the world is as crappy as ever! And who knows what this might mean, maybe MSN will take over peakoil.com next...  |
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TheDude
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Joined: Apr 06, 2006
Posts: 2860
Location: 3 miles NW of Champoeg, Republic of Cascadia
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| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 6:52 am Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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Wagoner is calling for a switchover to EVs.
The tiny size of the US EV fleet:
To put this in perspective, I cropped the image to show only the AFV fleet for 2005, giving an image height of 1.4" for 600K vehicles. To illustrate the size of the ca. 135 million vehicles used for commuting in the US would require a bar 26.25 feet (8 meters) long.
Admittedly a rough figure, and a lot of people do carpool/use MT etc. Still! There are 243 million registered vehicles in the US total. EVs have a lot of catching up to do if they are to replace the current liquid fueled Happy Motoring.
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Cogito, ergo non satis bibivi
I'm just gonna find a cash machine. |
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mos6507
Fission
Joined: Aug 03, 2007
Posts: 2981
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| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2008 2:18 pm Post subject: Re: 2008 the year peak oil joins climate change at top of ag |
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| steam_cannon wrote: | | FreakOil wrote: | | steam_cannon wrote: | | kokoda wrote: | | If you read the article you would realise that the reporter actually used the term "peak oil" ... not the CEO of GM. |
But it is significant when reporters start using the term "peak oil".
Showing people "peak oil" is mainstream
http://peakoil.com/fortopic35648.html |
Let's not get too excited. It's only a website called GreensBlog. |
Yes, but Jim Jubak is MSN.
Showing people "peak oil" is mainstream
http://peakoil.com/fortopic35648.html |
Right now GW probably yields a hundred unique news articles a day. This creates a self-sustaining phenomenon in public awareness. PO gets an isolated mention in the MSM every few months or so. It just hasn't hit critical mass. People are whining about oil prices but not connecting the dots. They still think any potential crisis is decades off and change can occur very gradually via "the market" without causing any sort of collapse. |
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