Tapped Out

I read an article today in the June issue of National Geographic called "Tapped Out." The article is about the growing gap between supply and demand of oil around the world. The energy crisis is not new news, pretty much everywhere I turn these days it's becoming trendy to "go green." I'm beginning to wonder when the trend is forced to face reality will the eco-friendly commodity bust? People are turning the energy crisis for profit, like every good capitalist marketplace, but for how much longer? How will society react when it's no longer trendy to ride your bike to work but a necessity?

As the marketplace becomes increasingly crippled by the rising price of oil we will have to come face to face with our societal gluttony. The conclusion of the article was eerily prophetic: "Whatever the ceiling (peak oil production) turns out to be, one prediction seems secure: The era of cheap oil is behind us. If the past is any guide, the world may be in for a rough ride. In the early 1970s, during the Arab oil embargo, U.S. policymakers considered desperate measures to keep oil supplies flowing, even drawing up contingency plans to seize Middle Easter oil fields. Washington backed away from military tensions then, but such tensions are likely to reemerge. .. Countries like Saudi Arabia and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries control 75% of the world's oil reserves."

And as a result will ultimately yield the most power as the developed and underdeveloped world becomes crippled as a result of their reliance on oil to survive. 

Ultimately, lifestyle HAS to change, not because it's the "in" thing to do, but because if we fail, if we set our feet and refuse to budge and declare independence from oil our country will see trying times that will place our liberties in peril.