Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 5:50 pm Post subject: first reactions to peak oil
this thread is about the reactions of those you know when you first started talking about peak oil.
in chat (paraphrased):
me - do you know what is peak of oil production?
other - no
me - what do you understand of this name?
other - I guess it's when oil PRICES peak
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:24 pm Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
too many reactions of disbelief and or I'm crazy/insane pick your word. Now I'm starting to think like someone said on the other thread "why tell anyone?" just to lessen my own chance? It certainly doesn't seem that many are interested in embracing the concept...
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:29 pm Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
I had a guy tell me to shut up. He really got upset. I still haven't talked to him, and that was about a month ago. I have decided to shut up now. It's too obvious. I'm not discussing peak oil with people who don't know about it any more. There's no percentage in it. I think that people are either in the denial or the anger stage, so it's hard to talk to them. _________________ Deep in the mud and slime of things, even there, something sings.
Joined: Jul 04, 2007 Posts: 1857 Location: via corinas inundum
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 8:46 pm Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
We are not running out of oil.
Stop being paranoid.
Even if we were running out of oil, technology will come up with new ways.
Blank Stares
Deer in the headlight face
Joined: Dec 18, 2004 Posts: 4134 Location: One Mile From the Columbia River
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 9:43 pm Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
Revi wrote:
I have decided to shut up now.
That comment was funny.
I talked about PO with a small local group of people today. The topic was: Why are gas prices so high?
I drew a few bell curves on a piece of paper. Many of you have done this too, I'm sure. At the peak of one I wrote 1970. At the peak of another I wrote 1930. I noted that the USA went from 10 mbpd to 5 mbpd in the past 38 years.
Then I quickly drew two more noting 1965 at the top of one and 2005 at the top of the other. I noted that demand is generally strong and the only way for supply to meet production is for prices to increase high enough so enough people around the world cease buying oil, which is, of course happening.
I also mentioned we're getting so desperate that many countries around the world are starting to burn food in cars thereby reducing available food resulting in much higher food prices.
Amazingly, NOT ONE person out of 15 offered a rebuttal, in fact, all agreed that supply is getting shorter just about everywhere. It was an amazing 10 minute talk. It was the first time I've had no ridiculous fantasy remarks, such as 'hydrogen economy' or 'wind turbines'. People are starting to get it, finally. _________________ Everything is Impermanent. Shakyamuni Buddha
Joined: Apr 09, 2007 Posts: 5340 Location: Alaska (its much bigger than Texas).
Posted: Mon May 12, 2008 10:30 pm Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
eastbay wrote:
Revi wrote:
I have decided to shut up now.
That comment was funny.
I talked about PO with a small local group of people today. The topic was: Why are gas prices so high?
I drew a few bell curves on a piece of paper. Many of you have done this too, I'm sure. At the peak of one I wrote 1970. At the peak of another I wrote 1930. I noted that the USA went from 10 mbpd to 5 mbpd in the past 38 years.
Then I quickly drew two more noting 1965 at the top of one and 2005 at the top of the other. I noted that demand is generally strong and the only way for supply to meet production is for prices to increase high enough so enough people around the world cease buying oil, which is, of course happening.
I also mentioned we're getting so desperate that many countries around the world are starting to burn food in cars thereby reducing available food resulting in much higher food prices.
Amazingly, NOT ONE person out of 15 offered a rebuttal, in fact, all agreed that supply is getting shorter just about everywhere. It was an amazing 10 minute talk. It was the first time I've had no ridiculous fantasy remarks, such as 'hydrogen economy' or 'wind turbines'. People are starting to get it, finally.
Hi eastbay:
I had the same reaction when I put together and gave a powerpoint lecture on Peak Oil here in a class at the University of Alaska a few weeks ago. I expected a lot of disagreement and argument, and I prefaced my lecture with disclaimers and apologies for my forthcoming "rant" ---- but after my 45 minute talk most people were pretty much nodding their heads in agreement. There was some skepticism, but I just went through the global production data from the U.S. government's EIA agency again. The data is very compelling----production HAS peaked and is basically on a plateau since 2005.
I agree......people are starting to get it. $4.00 per gallon of gas is getting through to people that something isn't right, and they can see the future isn't going to be the "march of progress" they expected.
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 3:20 am Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
First time when I told someone : total quiet, and staring at me
Second time : yes, yes, we have 100 years of oil left, stop talking nonsense _________________ "Hitting bottom isn't a weekend retreat. It's not a goddamn seminar. Stop trying to control everything and just let go! LET GO!"
Joined: Jun 13, 2007 Posts: 3357 Location: Minniesotuh
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 9:28 am Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
I've tried to tell and explain, almost to no avail.
The only person who was interested was a young man who was trying to drum up customers for his new stockbroker business and was walking the neighborhoods to introduce himself.
Otherwise, I get so frustrated being told "they" will save us, that I am worrying over nothing. _________________ "RRrrruuuunnnn!!!" ~Apocalypto
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 9:30 am Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
Quote:
Now, if the environmentalists would just get out of the way, the Pacific Coast shoreline has enough oil to supply every man, woman and child for the next 500 years. You want cheap oil? Call the Sierra Club and Greenpeace and tell them to get out of the way of it.
Joined: Mar 04, 2007 Posts: 504 Location: Hong Kong
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 9:48 am Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
First reaction? Paraphrasing a bunch of people: "They" will come up with a "solution." _________________ "We shall live in interesting times, and we shall die in them too." - Heineken
Joined: Mar 04, 2007 Posts: 504 Location: Hong Kong
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 9:59 am Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
I must confess, I didn't read Ferretlover's post before I wrote my own. Now that I have, I must say it's absolutely bizarre the similarity of the responses we have gotten to the subject, and it's even more bizarre the people's faith and dependence on "them."
People don't even have the decency to say who "they" are! Are "they" government? Are "they" business? Are "they" scientists? It's just "them," as if there's some separate group of people completely outside of society, beyond everything that we see and hear, making decisions that will affect the course of humanity.
Maybe it's just an indication of how dissociated the average person is from government, business and academia. They're not even people, they're just "them." Next time somebody talks about "them" and how "they" are going to come up with a "solution," maybe we should continue by asking who "they" are and what have they done for us lately? _________________ "We shall live in interesting times, and we shall die in them too." - Heineken
Joined: Jun 13, 2007 Posts: 3357 Location: Minniesotuh
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 10:16 am Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
FreakOil wrote:
Maybe it's just an indication of how dissociated the average person is from government, business and academia. They're not even people, they're just "them." Next time somebody talks about "them" and how "they" are going to come up with a "solution," maybe we should continue by asking who "they" are and what have they done for us lately?
Prediction: the response will be something along the lines of "you know, the people who take care of these kind of things."
That's when I put on My deer-in-the-headlights face. _________________ "RRrrruuuunnnn!!!" ~Apocalypto
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 12:30 pm Post subject: Re: first reactions to peak oil
eastbay wrote:
(...)
I drew a few bell curves on a piece of paper. Many of you have done this too, I'm sure.(...)
People are starting to get it, finally.
Indeed, I usually do only the 1995 2005 one, explaining about how the 70's oil crisis changed the bell shaped curve.
But even if people start to get it, they don't join the dots. They blame the usual suspects (government, OPEC, ...), and look too calm as if not understanding how much oil is worth for the economy. Peak Oil is great for the ecology, nature, but worst for the economy and us humans (but in a way, it's also great for us)... but people don't think PO makes a collapse of civilization more possible, sometimes "rationalising" with the same old "technology will save us, 'they' have the solution hided and waiting for the perfect time to bring it to the markets". _________________ anagami.net
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