[Peakoil] first letter in Age today

[Jenny Goldie]

Now is the time to prepare for oil-scarce future

April 21, 2006 

Oil prices break another record and Melburnians are squeezing onto our over-stretched public transport system or driving away from petrol stations without paying (The Age, 20/4). Within a few years, we will reach the peak of oil production and be faced thereafter with shrinking supplies. This will raise fuel prices even higher.

A study by Griffith University academics showed that Melbourne was more vulnerable to high oil prices than other Australian cities. Those most at risk are in the less-well-off suburbs on the city's fringes, far from accessible public transport. They are more dependent on cars and have further to travel to access facilities and services than their inner-city counterparts.

If those in the outer suburbs and regional Victoria are to avoid becoming the collateral damage of an oil-scarce future, then we need to reduce our dependence on oil. We need to ensure all Victorians have real public transport options, and we need to encourage more fuel-efficient vehicles instead of subsidising four-wheel-drives with tax breaks. Alternative fuels may be available in the future but, in the short term, conservation and efficiency will bring the greatest gains.

This is a challenge for governments investing in our infrastructure but also for individuals making choices about where to live and work, what transport to use and what car to drive. It will be easier and cheaper if we make changes now, rather than waiting until runaway oil prices force change upon us.
Sherry Mayo, Australian Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas, Notting Hill
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://act-peakoil.org/pipermail/peakoil/attachments/20060421/2e4b6dac/attachment.html