It seems hypocritical to celebrate the earth while we are raping her.
Try to learn to worship dirt, water, air, plants and animals instead of cheap plastic things, dirty gold or blood diamonds.
We are running out of oil, but we don’t have to worry about running out of natural gas because we will run out of water first.
Drovers, The American Cattle Network, says “It’s time we faced some inevitable facts…” in their review of the book, Running on empty: pondering ‘Life Without Oil.’
In “Life Without Oil,” Hallett, who authored the book with Jon Wright, a journalist who has extensively covered energy issues, argues that throughout history all societies have collapsed, usually from the loss of a necessary resource. For our current society, that resource could be oil.
“We have a couple of choices: We either collapse, or we shift to something else,” Hallett says.
I don’t think he means we should switch to another dirty fossil fuel.
I drive a 2007 Honda Fit that gets 38 MPG on the highway, my son drives an Acrua. I’ve never owned a Mercedes or a jet plane and don’t care to own either. However, I can relate to what the emir of Dubai says:
Sheikh Rashid Al Maktoum, emir of Dubai, described our fears perfectly when he said, ‘My grandfather rode a camel. I drive a Mercedes. My son flies a jet plane. His son will ride a camel.’”
I shudder at what my children and yours will face in the future if we don’t make an immediate 180 degree turn. It won’t be easy but we have done hard things before. We can do this and we must.
Hallett says his belief that we’ve reached a peak in oil production – give or take a decade – means the world will either have to significantly cut energy use or find an alternative source. He’s not, however, optimistic that human ingenuity will create a solution. He says the difficult truth is that the world can’t continue growing, either physically or economically, and expect to survive.
“We’re constantly faced with these intractable problems, and we usually find the answer in more of something. We’ve come to the point where that won’t work,” he says. “We’ve filled up the world with enough people, exhausted too many of its resources, and we need to settle into a lifestyle where we don’t feel the need for constant progress and growth. You can’t grow forever. We will reach limits, and the book argues that we are reaching those limits. There are some things that just run out and cannot be replaced, and oil is one of them.”
About Sharon Wilson
Sharon Wilson is considered a leading citizen expert on the impacts of shale oil and gas extraction. She is the go-to person whether it’s top EPA officials from D.C., national and international news networks, or residents facing the shock of eminent domain and the devastating environmental effects of natural gas development in their backyards.
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Anonymous says
Tx sharon, this website is ridiculous and your thoughts on drilling are a little far fetched. You should really do more research on what you are putting on your website before the oil and gas companies take you to court.
Signed,
Staff Environmental Scientist
TXsharon says
Hey, Staff, go ahead and point to something you think is wrong. Please, prove me wrong.
Thank you for your slightly veiled threat.
Anonymous says
@ Anonymous Staff Environmental Scientist…We are waiting! Where is your proof?
Nick says
He must not be very good at his job. He can't even spew the company line in less than an hour.
David says
When will pro gas & oil posters learn that anonymous posts have no credibility what so ever? Challenging the facts posted on this blog should at the very least put a link to their version of what they believe the facts to be. I know many of the pro oil & gas posters get their information from FAUX NEWS and are not accustomed to hearing facts.
Anonymous says
The message of this post is found-not so much in a list of "facts" that be argued forever; but in the overall world situation. To understand the problems we face as citizens of this world requires a kind of intelligent observation that extends beyond "the company line."
Mature adults have watched each of these problems develop and worsen over decades. Now one problem-population – is affecting another-oil, which affects gas, which affects water….
Guys, the whole house of cards is tumbly. Look at the us economy, for starters. We are all in this together.
Ward in the Woods says
Hey Anonmyous Pro gas scientist,
Do yoy deny it takes between 1-9
million gallons of water, every time a well is fracked?
Anonymous says
"we are running out of oil".
Besides the obvious fact that the world is depleted of non-renewable oil everyday, this is incorrect. There is literally as much or more oil in place in West Texas alone than there is in Saudi Arabia. We have decades upon decades (and many believe over a century) of oil underneath our feet, in this country, right now. But instead of producing it all domestically and balancing our trade deficit, we import from the Middle East for (money which is partially funneled into Al Qaeda).
Your environmental opinion aside, your assertion is just false.