Hello all,
New here, hailing from Ontario.
I believe that peak oIl is upon is and is soon going to produce some pretty large-scale changes in the way we live.
The way I see it, the way the developed world uses fossil fuel energy can only be described as utterly profligate. It's not likely to survive peak oil unless it starts moderating its energy demands today.
I also believe that the woes of the global auto industry are partially the result of the early phase of peak oil. After the big gasoline price ramp-ups we saw last summer, people are giving serious thought to the role cars play in their lives. More and more, people are saying no to big SUV's and driving only when necessary.
Oil prices have dropped not just because of declining global demand, but because the oil companies are moderating their price demands. They very nearly cooked the global economy for good in the last round of price spikes and don't want to make the same mistake again.
By the same token, it appears likely that once the global economy recovers, oil prices will go up again - not because of profiteering by oil companies, but because demand will continue to outstrip supply and because the easy-to-extract oil is just about gone.
My involvement in the PeakOil news and message boards is prompted by a desire to learn what I personally can do about peak oil and survive it.
By the way, if you're interested, I recently created a short video about Peak Oil and its likely effects. It's called "Peak Oil: Danger & Opportunity" and you can see it at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqJ-dMTI6sM
Not in advanced nations like Europe and the USA. 
