Letters to the Editor
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Olduvai Theory
We are witnessing the commencement of what Richard C. Duncan calls the "slide", the first segment of the time after reaching the peak of oil extraction as demand continues to climb. Available data seem to indicate that to be that the peak occurred in within the past four years. George W. Bush went begging to Saudi Arabia a few months ago for them to open up their magic oil spigots, but..guess what?...came home empty-handed because the spigots are already wide open!
The whole scenario of what will happen over the coming decades has been widely known in the petroleum industry since M. King Hubbert first announced in 1955 that oil resources were limited and extraction would peak around the millennium. My father, a man who made his career in the oil refining industry, discussed this around the family dinner table in the 1960's. Any politician who has not anticipated the problem of petroleum shortages has been living with blinders on or is being deeply dishonest with his constituents. In either case, we need to find leaders who have grasped the enormity of the problem and will take the necessary emergency action to produce a long term solution of sustainability.
The "slope" of oil production, with its unprecedented economic catastrophe and attendant social chaos is just a few years, not decades away.
Let's stop supporting band-aide solutions to what will amount to economic suicide by starvation. Stop voting for politicians who distract us from serious real problems with the phony "War on Terror".