There’s this idea floating around in people’s minds regarding oil that I feel compelled to dispel:  That if we just drill more oil, build more renewable/nuclear power plants, and sell more energy efficient vehicles we’ll be able to go back to Business as Usual (BAU).  It is a myth.  We’ve reached Peak Oil.  All that stuff, if done 10-30 years ago could have made a difference but now it is too late.

As a nation (the USA for foreign readers) we need to stop looking for scapegoats and place the blame where it belongs: US.  Speculators are not the cause of high oil prices.  The oil companies/countries are not consipiring to make our lives miserable (Hint: You don’t intentionally destroy your biggest customer).  The Man is not trying to keep you down.  It’s not THEM it’s US.

WE did not prepare for Peak Oil.  WE ignored the warning signs.  WE did not want to change our lifestyles.  WE did not want to hear about all that “tree hugger BS”.  WE thought the market would save us.  WE thought (think?) the government could fix everything.  WE only paid attention to people/media that only told us what we wanted to hear.  WE ignored the gas mileage sticker when WE bought our horribly gas-inefficient vehicles.  WE blame everyone else while WE stare at the price on the pump instead of the gallons.

Still want someone to blame other than yourself?  If you must, take your pick:  The guy driving that giant SUV, the people who made that giant SUV, or the government that didn’t bother to regulate the efficiency of that giant SUV.  How about the airline industry?  How about the everything-shipped-from-far-far-away consumer marketplace (where were your shoes made?  Where were those Apples grown?)?

An economy based on the consumption of fixed resources will consume itself…  and WE have one hell of an appetite for irreplaceable fossil energy.