For decades now I have been waiting for all the oil wells to run dry. It is quite possible I have written on this topic before as it is one that is near and dear to my heart - so if I'm repeating myself I beg indulgence.
The prospect of the world running out of oil fascinates me to no end.
Why? Well, when I was an elementary school student a small broadsheet was passed out to the class every week that was named "The Weekly Reader" (clever, eh?). It was full of what were then exciting stories that for whatever reason I cannot forget.
Why? Well, when I was an elementary school student a small broadsheet was passed out to the class every week that was named "The Weekly Reader" (clever, eh?). It was full of what were then exciting stories that for whatever reason I cannot forget.
Stories about the pending implementation of the metric system in the United States, Armand Hammer's plan to deforest the Amazon with a huge floating papermill, the coming population explosion, and of course the impending drying up of the oil fields.
That last one is the one that cemented itself in my memory. For the past several decades I've sought out and read countless stories about the coming of the end of oil.
It is a story that interests me greatly, because it is something I would really, really love to live to see.
There are two primary reasons for that. 1) I believe that with the end of oil the earth will be able to start recovering from the past 100 or so years of petrochemical pollution, and 2) Without oil, large scale war will pretty much be eliminated.
There are two primary reasons for that. 1) I believe that with the end of oil the earth will be able to start recovering from the past 100 or so years of petrochemical pollution, and 2) Without oil, large scale war will pretty much be eliminated.
The CoVid-19 quarantines, short as they were (in a geological sense), pretty much proved that. During the government mandated six to eight week quarantines, the skies over every major industrial area on the planet lost their ever-present curtains of smog, and warfare was pretty much limited to very regional/local conflicts.
Those were some unexpected bonuses for the inconvenience of being forced to stay home in order to avoid contracting and potentially spreading a virulent disease.
The end of oil will do those two things faster and far more permanently than any climate-change activist, negotiating diplomat, or anti-war demonstrator ever could hope to do in the history of climate-change activists, negotiating diplomats and anti-war demonstrators.
Large-scale warfare depends on fuel - for jets, ships, tanks, trucks, etc. Once the fuel becomes unavailable for all, it means armies either return to the horse as a means of transportation, or get really creative with bicycle-powered craft.
It goes without saying that petrochemical pollution depends upon oil, but I have to state it anyway as pointing out the obvious is becoming more and more necessary in this world of red-carpet interviewers who have no idea what "vanity fair" actually means (geez, that was horrendous).
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