Peak Oil, a plea to learn about it, teach, and press for responsible leadership

by Michael Kuhn Saturday, Feb. 21, 2004 at 9:33 PM

Post-peak oil production, or “Peak Oil” is possibly the most important issue of our time. The decline of oil production and the increase in demand is at or near a very critical threshold. It will shake the foundations of human life on planet Earth

Peak Oil, a plea to ...
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There is no exaggerating that the lives of you, your children, and beyond are going to be drastically different than our lives today. Almost every current human endeavor from transportation, to manufacturing, to electricity, to plastics, and especially food and water production is inextricably intertwined with oil and natural gas supplies. There will be great hardships affecting every person on the planet. There is no easy way around this. The events coming our way are very big, and very scary.

You may not have heard about or considered peak oil before. Please, do this now. Peak oil is at the root of many of today’s major issues. Please do whatever you can, by any means, to learn, teach, and influence leaders about peak oil.

Spend just 30 minutes now doing some easy, online research and you will find out why peak oil is so alarming. It is important that you not just take my word for it. You need to discover this for yourself. The peak oil issue is deadly serious, but if we get started today, we might find a way to make the inevitable easier.

Here is a good summary web page: http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net

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We have a great deal of hard work to do in order to cope with the end of cheap oil. To begin, it is essential that awareness reach a critical mass. Today, our most important duty is to learn, teach, and influence leaders.

Here are three simple action steps:

1 - Stimulate Google and Yahoo to bring “peak oil” to prominent positioning. This is done by frequent use of the search engines to search up "peak oil". It is helpful to include the quotes in your search criteria. Read the information you find. Share the links. Add them to your web sites.

Google - http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=%22peak+oil%22&btnmeta%3Dsearch%3Dsearch=Search+the+Web

Google News - http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=%22peak+oil%22

Yahoo – http://search.yahoo.com/search?ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t&p=%22peak+oil%22

Yahoo News - http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=%22peak+oil%22&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-tab-web-t

2 - Send written mail or email to every person in every leadership role you can find asking them to use their position to open a dialog and expand awareness of peak oil.

3 – Discuss peak oil with all your friends and family. Ask them to get involved, too.

Model letters below can be used as-is, altered, or used in any way you wish that might help.

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Dear Friends and Family,

I have been very busy the past days researching and writing letters about a topic of the utmost urgency to you, to me, and to every citizen of Earth. It is a very shocking topic, and for two days after learning about it, I felt devastated. I also feel it is so extremely important for you learn about it and use your resources to teach others, that I have decided to share it with you, and all other folks I know who are willing to stretch their minds to include a difficult, and a very different future than they might ever have expected.

This information may seem rather benign. The impact will be felt more, if you choose to investigate further by looking at the suggested web resources I have included.

This is a very serious topic. It is not a "wacko conspiracy theory". You can find supporting reports about it online that come from every industrial, academic, and political point of view. The mystery that persists for me is why this is not the number one issue of the current presidential campaign.

An unmanaged oil collapse will lead to certain starvation, disease, as well as economic, political, and technological chaos. Recovery from this condition will be difficult.

If we can convince our leadership to face the reality of peak oil, we might be able to endure. Pure market forces alone do not have the impetus to make this happen soon enough to be effective.

A managed, positive outcome may occur if technology is developed to cushion the oil fall, and allow time for a natural age based die off to reduce the population gracefully. If we can make oil conservation and population reduction critical priorities, we might be able to use the remaining resources to develop the means of sustaining a small population. The result would hopefully be a small, healthy, and technologically advanced human population living on a much healthier Earth.

Below is a letter I have been sending to every community, social, environmental, political, and media leader I can find. My plea is that you take the time to help get the word out, too, by every means available.

You may find the suggested links a virtual punch in the gut, but it is also a very exciting time to be alive on this planet. I would rather be here now than any other time. We are soon to embark on a path that could lead to the most advanced and responsible civilization imaginable, or one that might lead to devastation.

I pray for success.

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Here is the letter I have been sending. You may copy it, alter it, or write your own. The important thing is to do your best to educate everyone you know, and encourage leaders to assume meaningful responsibility.

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Hello,

This letter is about an issue of which I have come to be convinced may define the rest of our lives on Earth.

The issue of post-peak oil production, known in the energy industry simply as “peak oil”, is by many measures one of the most urgent and important problems that will affect the entire human race. The impact of peak oil is most likely beginning now as we see the price of energy rise. We can expect energy prices to escalate rapidly during the next few years.

Almost every current human endeavor from transportation, to manufacturing, to electricity, to plastics, and especially food and water production is inextricably intertwined with oil and natural gas supplies.

Why is this subject of peak oil unnoticed by the media and the public at large?

Indeed, “Why?” There is certainly no benefit to be derived from ignoring peak oil, and there is great harm to be had for waiting too long to react.

I plead with you to review this issue and use your leadership role to open a dialog and expand awareness of peak oil. It is very important that this begin now in order that our societies commence making the adjustments and innovations that will be required to avert catastrophe.

I suggest doing a Google search of “peak oil” (include the quote marks) to quickly locate many informative documents, including academic, environmental, and industrial sources. You can also read a detailed summary of peak oil at: www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net.

Sincerely,

(Your Name)

Original: Peak Oil, a plea to learn about it, teach, and press for responsible leadership