[ACTPO Members] [Peakoil-announce] this letter was printed in the Canberra Times yesterday

[Alex Pollard]

Thanks Jenny

I think independents and green might be able to agree on action on peak
oil whereas Abbott seems to think a higher oil price and technology will
deal with it without policy intervention.

Alex


> Who can disagree with Ian Lowe that climate change is the most important
> issue in this election (Climate change is most vital issue for next govt,
> Opinion, 18 August)?
>
> But there is another issue of almost equal magnitude that is being
> virtually ignored.
>
> That issue is peak oil. What is it? According to former oil company
> geologist Colin Campbell, peak oil is "the maximum rate of the production
> of oil in any area under consideration, recognising that it is a finite
> natural resource, subject to depletion." US oil production peaked in the
> 1970s and is now 30 per cent less. Australia's oil production peaked in
> 2000. Both countries have steadily imported more and more oil since their
> respective peaks, however, now global supplies are around or past the peak
> - many analysts say it was in July 2008 - and importing oil will become
> increasingly expensive as demand outstrips supply.
>
> What does this mean for the Australian economy? A lot unfortunately, as
> oil underpins our whole industrialised economy, including agriculture.
> Everything that is made from oil will become more expensive as oil prices
> inevitably rise. Unless there is a coherent strategy to wean ourselves of
> oil and find alternative sources of energy, we will face crisis.
>
> One who warned about real levels of oil supply from Saudi fields was the
> investment banker Matthew Simmons, author of 'Twilight in the Desert'. His
> sudden death last week at age 67 is a huge loss.
>
>
> Jenny Goldie
> Michelago
>
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