Are CNN and Shell getting it?
By Andre Angelantoni
This advertisement, sponsored by Shell and CNN’s Principal Voices Series, appeared in Time and Fortune over Easter and was written by Jeremy Leggett, the climate change and peak oil activist.
“The bad news is that no combination of technologies can plug the energy gap if the peakists are correct. There will be a third, and last, global energy crisis. It will dwarf previous crises. Profound economic dislocation will result. The challenge for human civilization will be how we rebuild post-peak.”
It would seem so, given the CEO’s comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos earlier this year:
http://indpress.wordpress.com/2008/02/05/shell-ceo-admits-peak-oil-could-be-here-in-7-years
“Regardless of which route we choose, the world’s current predicament limits our maneuvering room. We are experiencing a step-change in the growth rate of energy demand due to population growth and economic development, and Shell estimates that after 2015 supplies of easy-to-access oil and gas will no longer keep up with demand.”
He went on to criticize the sluggish response by policymakers to the coming energy crisis:
“Taking the path of least resistance, policymakers pay little attention to curbing energy consumption – until supplies run short. Likewise, despite much rhetoric, greenhouse gas emissions are not seriously addressed until major shocks trigger political reactions. Since these responses are overdue, they are severe and lead to energy price spikes and volatility.”
The effects of peaking are going to be felt long before 2015 (they’ve already begun) and if you wait to prepare, you will not have the options you do now.
If you aren’t preparing for peak oil, what’s stopping you?
