Green Party in Massachusetts takes stand on peak oil

[robertpaulsen]

Green Party in Massachusetts takes stand on peak oil

by State Committee

Addressing the Fossil Fuel Crisis

Statement Adopted by Green-Rainbow Party State Committee, 11/17/07

Two closely related crises of immense proportions are breaking upon the world. They will change the way we live. They will sweep away economic institutions that today enjoy unchallenged dominance. They will cause political upheavals and enormous social dislocations. The two crises can be called “climate change” and “peak oil” and together we can call them the “fossil fuel crisis”. Both stem from the way in which we have been using cheap and abundant fossil fuels to power our economy. Communities that prepare for the coming crises will emerge intact. Those which attempt to continue business-as-usual will find themselves facing enormous uncertainty and potential chaos in the difficult transition that lies ahead.

1. Climate Change

These are key considerations regarding climate change:
* In 2007, atmospheric CO2 levels (~375 ppm) are significantly above pre-industrial levels (280 ppm) and this increase is the main driver behind global warming.
* These increases are primarily due to human activities, particularly burning of fossil fuels.
* The impacts of climate change are already severe, including catastrophic floods, drought, forest fires, heat waves (that took over 50,000 lives in Europe alone in 2003) , increased loss of fertile land to desert, loss of water supplies, disappearance of coral reefs.
* There is reason to believe that further CO2 increases (beyond approximately 450 ppm) could reach a point of no return and trigger changes in nature (non-linear feedback mechanisms) that will produce run-away climate change.
* Run-away climate change would lead to temperatures warmer than in a million years (the age of the dinosaurs), melting of the polar ice caps, a sea level rise, and devastating impacts to human populations.
* The time lag between increased CO2 emissions today and further warming tomorrow means that we must act now. Continued business as usual for even a short while ---perhaps as short as a decade --- will eliminate prospects for averting catastrophe


2. Peak Oil

The second crisis we face is the “peak oil” phenomenon. Peak oil refers to the geophysical reality that the world has consumed approximately half of the world’s fossil fuels reserves, and that from here on the price of oil will rise dramatically as demand grows and supplies shrink. In addition, the supply of oil will be increasingly vulnerable to disruptions due to weather events, growing geopolitical instability, sudden declines in supply and other causes. Peak oil is troubling on several counts. The steady rise of oil prices will make the use of petroleum unaffordable for many current uses, and will produce increasingly severe economic and social dislocations. Military conflicts driven by attempts to control oil reserves will continue to proliferate. Rising oil prices are already driving up the cost of the most basic necessities of life such as food and heating oil. This poses an enormous challenge to economic justice in Massachusetts as the necessities of life become increasingly unaffordable for many.

Adapting to peak oil requires major changes in our built infrastructure and our economy. Effecting such changes could take decades, and given the documented declines in new oil discovery, we are clearly in a race against time.

http://www.energybulletin.net/38105.html

I posted this here because I like their labeling approach to this issue. Peak Oil and Climate Change are both flip sides of the same coin in that both concern how the overconsumption of fossil fuels threaten civilization, one economically and the other environmentally. Linking both together and calling it the Fossil Fuel Crisis may help more people wrap their heads around both sides simultaneously.