'We have reached Peak Oil.' - Bianca Jagger

[Subdivisions]

(edited for copyright purposes proud patriot Moderator Democratic Underground)

Peak Oil Theory, Data and DC Convention Deserve Our Attention

By Andrew Kreig
DC legal reform advocate and attorney for HuffingtonPost.com

Jim Baldauf, president of a cutting-edge energy group, began its briefing at the National Press Club Oct. 7 by citing the BP Gulf oil disaster, drought in Russia at up to 130 degrees, and massive flood-devastation in Pakistan as evidence that this is the worst year for the environment in recent history.

"I would submit," he said, "that all of these tragedies are due to Peak Oil. Peak Oil will affect every aspect of our life."

Baldauf, above, is a Texas-based oil executive, lifelong environmentalist and leader of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil & Gas, USA (ASPO). The group argues that after 150 years of oil extraction most major oil exporting nations are well past their supply peaks, defined by scientists as "Peak Oil."

Baldauf is also one of the headliners at ASPO's sixth convention, which continues through Saturday with economists, energy and human rights experts as the group brings its important message for the first time to opinion-leaders in Washington, DC.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-kreig/peak-oil-theory-data-and_b_756340.html">Continue to this article at HuffingtonPost.com

The ASPO Conference Press Release:

The End of Oil As We Know It

ASPO-USA Foresees Dramatic Decline in Oil Production, Calls for Strong Measures to Mitigate Impending Energy Crisis

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas (ASPO-USA) asserted today that the world is facing a significant energy crisis, as the rate of oil production cannot keep pace with demand. The world is consuming four barrels of oil for every one discovered, more than 80 million barrels of oil per day. After 150 years of oil extraction, most major oil exporting nations are well past their supply peaks, defined by scientists as "Peak Oil."

"We are at the point of no return," stated Jim Baldauf, President of ASPO-USA. "While global demand is accelerating, worldwide oil supplies have reached a plateau and are now in decline. The era of low-cost, easy-to-get oil has come to an end, a moment of historic significance and one fraught with danger. The Gulf of Mexico disaster occurred because the quest for new supplies requires that we drill miles beneath the ocean surface. Without affordable energy to drive our economy, we can expect price spikes and economic crisis to be the new normal. The debate about Peak Oil is over; it is time for bold action. If we do not change our current approach, we will see tremendous global repercussions."

"We need to face this problem head on," Baldauf continued. "There is no time or energy to waste."

About ASPO-USA

The Association for the Study of Peak Oil & GAS – USA is a non-profit, non-partisan research and public education initiative to address America's Peak Oil Energy Challenge. ASPO-USA encourages prudent energy management, constructive community transformation, and cooperative initiatives in an era of depleting petroleum resources. Prudent energy resource management must include conservation and efficiency, ecologically responsible energy production and consumption, and the development of alternative energy resources. For more information, please visit http://www.aspousa.org/.


SOURCE ASPO-USA

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-end-of-oil-as-we-know-it-104498369.html">Continue to this article at PRNewswire.com

ASPO DC Conference website which includes list of guest speakers: http://www.aspousa.org/worldoil2010/

YouTube of Jim Baldauf at conference: Oil in the Long Run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWW2-065bQo

ASPO Conference Twitter: #peakoil2010 http://twitter.com/aspousa

ASPO Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ASPO-USA-Association-for-the-Study-of-Peak-Oil-and-Gas/111007450648

And YouTube Peak Oil Sexy Spokeswoman Sensation KrisCan reports live from the conference via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/KrisCan/117991971546513

[the redcoat]

1. My gut reaction to those comments is "duh."

Everyone knows that (regardless of how much we find) oil is finite.

Everyone knows that the population of the world is not decreasing.

Everyone knows that Big Oil is still fighting to suppress alternative energies.


This is kind of like when everyone acted surprised when the housing market crashed, even though home prices and inflation was rising faster than salaries.

[JDPriestly]

2. We in the US need to completely rethink and recreate our

transportation system. If we don't do it now, it will be too late We need fast rail. We need cheap public transportation.

[nashville_brook]

3. k and r

[scheming daemons]

4. I'm not saying it isn't true.... but Bianca Jagger? Really? We consider her an expert?

:eyes:

[Subdivisions]

10. You're perfectly welcome to dismiss anything she has to say. But what does

that do to dismiss all the other contributors to the understanding of this problem?

What does your criticism of Bianca Jagger do to dismiss the whole idea that oil production already peaked in 2005?

[L0oniX]

5. There is no way to avoid what is going to happen. The only thing anyone can do...

is to face reality and prepare to become an agricultural society. Keep a supply of non Monsanto seeds. Set up cisterns for rain water. Come up with a plan and method to enrich land for crops. Get rid of all non essential possessions. Pay down all debt. Buy gold and silver ...money will become worthless. Move away from large metropolitan areas. If you have a enough money now then buy a sail boat ...at least a 36' for 1 person ...and learn to fish, crab, snorkel and navigate ...buy protection ...plan for the areas you will be traveling to.

Watch: Collapse - Netfix ...and there are many more documentaries on the coming collapse.

Don't think it will happen? You are a fool! Go on with your denial then and good luck with that. Planing to have a family? What utter stupidity ...your kids will never survive.

Everything you are seeing with the world revolves around oil. Obama knows about all this. We are at the last gasp of life as we know it here in the USA. The current recession is just the first ripple ...there will be a double dip ...and then others. The high gas prices are what triggered this recession and gas prices will rise again ...and the next time they may not come back down. The only reason that gas prices are down is because of less demand because businesses are closing and people are not working.

On top of it all, the growth rate of population can not continue with finite resources. Sustainability is a myth. Economic growth can not continue forever no matter what nation you live in or what planet you live on. There are laws of physics and you can not defeat them.

It's actually a silly thing to be blogging about politics because politics will not stop the inevitable.

[Gabi Hayes]

6. what are you doing tonight?

want to get some Chinese?

[L0oniX]

7. Enjoy your ride on the Titanic.

[Subdivisions]

11. Yes, President Obama is well aware of the problem and has tried to tell us --

TWICE.

First time can be seen in this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUBZsmfsDL0

Here are the words he spoke:

…snip…

Now, let me make one broader point, though, about energy. The fact that oil companies now have to go a mile underwater and then drill another three miles below that in order to hit oil tells us something about the direction of the oil industry. Extraction is more expensive and it is going to be inherently more risky.

And so that’s part of the reason you never heard me say, “Drill, baby, drill” — because we can’t drill our way out of the problem. It may be part of the mix as a bridge to a transition to new technologies and new energy sources, but we should be pretty modest in understanding that the easily accessible oil has already been sucked up out of the ground.

And as we are moving forward, the technology gets more complicated, the oil sources are more remote, and that means that there’s probably going to end up being more risk. And we as a society are going to have to make some very serious determinations in terms of what risks are we willing to accept. And that’s part of what the commission I think is going to have to look at.

I will tell you, though, that understanding we need to grow — we’re going to be consuming oil for our industries and for how people live in this country, we’re going to have to start moving on this transition. And that’s why when I went to the Republican Caucus just this week, I said to them, let’s work together. You’ve got Lieberman and Kerry, who previously were working with Lindsey Graham — even though Lindsey is not on the bill right now — coming up with a framework that has the potential to get bipartisan support, and says, yes, we’re going to still need oil production, but you know what, we can see what’s out there on the horizon, and it’s a problem if we don’t start changing how we operate.

…snip…

http://petroapocalypse.com/2010/05/29/president-obama-acknowledges-end-of-easy-oil/#more-17

Then, he made the effort to repeat his warning in an Oval Office address to the nation:

…snip…

For decades, we have known the days of cheap and easily accessible oil were numbered. For decades, we’ve talked and talked about the need to end America’s century-long addiction to fossil fuels. And for decades, we have failed to act with the sense of urgency that this challenge requires. Time and again, the path forward has been blocked — not only by oil industry lobbyists, but also by a lack of political courage and candor.

The consequences of our inaction are now in plain sight. Countries like China are investing in clean energy jobs and industries that should be right here in America. Each day, we send nearly $1 billion of our wealth to foreign countries for their oil. And today, as we look to the Gulf, we see an entire way of life being threatened by a menacing cloud of black crude.

We cannot consign our children to this future. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now. Now is the moment for this generation to embark on a national mission to unleash America’s innovation and seize control of our own destiny.

This is not some distant vision for America. The transition away from fossil fuels is going to take some time, but over the last year and a half, we’ve already taken unprecedented action to jumpstart the clean energy industry. As we speak, old factories are reopening to produce wind turbines, people are going back to work installing energy-efficient windows, and small businesses are making solar panels. Consumers are buying more efficient cars and trucks, and families are making their homes more energy-efficient. Scientists and researchers are discovering clean energy technologies that someday will lead to entire new industries.

Each of us has a part to play in a new future that will benefit all of us. As we recover from this recession, the transition to clean energy has the potential to grow our economy and create millions of jobs -– but only if we accelerate that transition. Only if we seize the moment. And only if we rally together and act as one nation –- workers and entrepreneurs; scientists and citizens; the public and private sectors. When I was a candidate for this office, I laid out a set of principles that would move our country towards energy independence. Last year, the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill –- a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses.

Now, there are costs associated with this transition. And there are some who believe that we can’t afford those costs right now. I say we can’t afford not to change how we produce and use energy -– because the long-term costs to our economy, our national security, and our environment are far greater.

So I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches from either party -– as long they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Some have suggested raising efficiency standards in our buildings like we did in our cars and trucks. Some believe we should set standards to ensure that more of our electricity comes from wind and solar power. Others wonder why the energy industry only spends a fraction of what the high-tech industry does on research and development -– and want to rapidly boost our investments in such research and development.

All of these approaches have merit, and deserve a fair hearing in the months ahead. But the one approach I will not accept is inaction. The one answer I will not settle for is the idea that this challenge is somehow too big and too difficult to meet. You know, the same thing was said about our ability to produce enough planes and tanks in World War II. The same thing was said about our ability to harness the science and technology to land a man safely on the surface of the moon. And yet, time and again, we have refused to settle for the paltry limits of conventional wisdom. Instead, what has defined us as a nation since our founding is the capacity to shape our destiny -– our determination to fight for the America we want for our children. Even if we’re unsure exactly what that looks like. Even if we don’t yet know precisely how we’re going to get there. We know we’ll get there.

…snip…

http://petroapocalypse.com/2010/06/17/president-once-again-acknowledges-premise-of-peak-oil/

If the President is concerned, shouldn't all of us be concerned?

What does he have to do, put solar panels and solar hot water on the roof of the White House to convince people?

[L0oniX]

13. He only scratches the surface but I do give him some credit for effort.

People should be made aware of what all comes from oil. They should be aware of the energy exchange to get energy mechanism. If it takes the energy of 90% of a barrel of oil to get a barrel of oil then it is futile to get the oil. The 90% figure is just an example. I think that considering profit, that % may be much lower. Obama seems to hold out technology as a savior for the problem. I don't put that kind of faith in science. We are dealing with finite resources and an ever increasing population. There really is no acceptable solution to this world crushing problem. The only solution I see is for us all to become farmers on a local level and that will be a very hard life for us and our kids.

Collapse, What a Way to Go: Life at the End of Empire, Blue Gold: World Water Wars, Food, Inc.,A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash, The Future of Food, The Oil Factor and many more documentaries show what is just ahead for us all.

[Odin2005]

16. "prepare to become an agricultural society" Bullshit!

If you think our modern technological society absolutely requires petroleum and no subsitute is possible you suffer from a severe lack of imagination.

[Subdivisions]

19. What is the substitute and why can't we already put it in our fuel tanks? n/t

[Odin2005]

28. There is this thing called electricity.

[Subdivisions]

29. deleted. wrong place. n/t

[bherrera]

34. Which needs fuel to be generated

Interesting proposal, but not very practical

[Odin2005]

35. Solar. Wind. Nuclear.

[L0oniX]

36. LOL ...you are obviously uninformed or you just don't give a fuck about the facts.

My bet is that you have no clue as to how much solar, wind and nuclear power it would take to replace what is used today including the power and resources needed to construct those sources. I don't believe you have a clue as to all the products and machinery that are oil dependent. Example: 1 car tire takes 4 barrels of oil to produce. I'd like to see how one would go about using solar, wind and nuclear power to grow food crops and transport them to cities without oil.

[L0oniX]

27. Imagination is what you need to believe that there is a substitute for oil.

[TonyMontana]

8. There's tons more oil in the Arctic

As global warming melts the ice caps, more oil will become accessible there.

[Subdivisions]

9. Can you show evidence that what you say is true? So far, I've not read

anything that show definitively that tons more oil is located in the Arctic. And I study this topic on a daily basis and have done so for years.

Please show where there is definitive proof of large reserves of oil in the Arctic.

ANWR, by the way, contains enough oil to power the planet for a total of three months - if it could all be extracted at once.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

12. ya... good luck with that

between the fact that it is super deep in the ground, the ice is shifting, permafrost is melting, and as the ice melts, the old volcanoes will start getting active again... that's gonna be some incredibly expensive oil.

[L0oniX]

14. Indeed. This is why they deny global warming. But you can not get away from...

an ever increasing world population and finite resources. Sustainable growth is impossible.

[Gregorian]

17. Thank you.

Every once in a great while I see someone who gets it. Who sees it. Why most people refuse to see is beyond me. I guess the just want to keep pumping out humans without limit.

I take a snapshot from pre-agrarian times, and compare it to today. That's how I see. It's rather dramatic. Just diet is dramatic. But the way in which we transport ourselves around is even more so.

Argh, all I can do is type a few words. Pathetic. No one will ever see them. No one will even look around. And fewer will change. It's not a top down problem. We don't need a leader to tell us what to do. We just need to stop doing it ourselves. Stop that vacation. Stop that next child. Stop that power plant. It's all so very threatening. No one wants to look.

[ThomWV]

15. The never-ending nonsense

On the day oil comes to be an unimportant and inexpensive commodity there will still be plenty of it in the ground for anyone who wants to go to the expense to pump it out.

[L0oniX]

18. What's it like to be a rocket scientist?

[Subdivisions]

20. What will replace oil? And where is it? And will oil be required to

create this alternative to oil?

[begin_within]

21. You Can't Always Git What You Want

[Subdivisions]

22. It may be fun for some to make fun of Bianca Jagger, but I think her credentials

speak for themselves:

http://www.aspousa.org/worldoil2010/speakers.cfm?bid=1065

Ms. Bianca Jagger
Founder and Chair
Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation

Bianca Jagger is the Founder and Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, a Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador, Member of the Executive Director’s Leadership Council of Amnesty International USA and Trustee of the Amazon Charitable Trust. The BJHRF is a member of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

For approximately 30 years, Bianca Jagger has been a prominent international human rights, social justice and climate change advocate. For her campaigns in these areas, Ms. Jagger has been the recipient of many prestigious international awards. On 9 December 2004, she received the Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “alternative Nobel prize,” for putting her celebrity at the service of the exploited and disadvantaged. The Jury recognized “her long-standing commitment and dedicated campaigning over a wide range of issues of human rights, social justice and environmental protection, including the abolition of the death penalty, the prevention of child abuse, and the rights of indigenous peoples to the environment that supports them and the prevention and healing of armed conflicts.”

In September 1997, Bianca Jagger was the recipient of Amnesty International USA Media Spotlight Award for Leadership, “in recognition for her work on behalf of human rights around the world, exposing and focusing attention on injustice.” In June 2004 she received the World Achievement Award from President Gorbachev for “her Worldwide Commitment to Human Rights, Social and Economic Justice and Environmental Causes.” In October 2006 Ms. Jagger was the recipient of the World Citizenship Award from The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Bianca Jagger’s environmental and conservation campaigns have been recognized. In 1994 she received the United Nations Earth Day International Award and in May 1997, she was the recipient of the Green Globe Award by the Rainforest Alliance for “her extraordinary conservation efforts and achievements over the past ten years.” Bianca Jagger has been widely acknowledged for her efforts to abolish the death penalty. In June 1996, she was the recipient of the Abolitionist of the Year Award presented to her on behalf of the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty for “her tireless efforts and heroic dedication in achieving clemency for Guinevere Garcia.”

In November 1998, Bianca Jagger was awarded The American Civil Liberties Union Award for her “passionate devotion to international human rights, opposition to capital punishment and the promotion of civil rights.” On 4 November 2000, she received The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyer (NACDL) Champion of Justice Award for her work as “a steadfast and eloquent advocate for the elimination of the death penalty in America”.

Bianca Jagger has been awarded two doctorates, honoris causa: an Honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Stonehill College, Massachusetts, and a Doctorate of Human Rights by Simmons College, Boston. On the 2nd of December 2010, Ms. Jagger will be awarded an honorary Doctorate of Law by East London University in recognition of her human rights campaigning.

She is a staunch supporter of the International Criminal Court, and the Geneva Conventions. Bianca Jagger has participated in numerous television and radio debates and lectures throughout the world about Latin America, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terror and the ensuing erosion of civil liberties and human rights, children and women’s rights, the death penalty, social and corporate responsibilities, climate change, the protection of indigenous and tribal peoples and the rainforest to name a few. She has participated in the BBC’s Question Time, Newsnight, Panorama and CNN. She has written articles for the op-ed pages of the Observer (UK), The Guardian (UK), The Independent (UK), The New Statesman (UK), The New York Times (USA), the Washington Post (USA), The Dallas Morning news (USA), Liberation (FR), Le Journal du Dimanche (FR), Le Juriste International (FR), Panorama (IT) among others.

Ms. Jagger also served on the Advisory Board of the Coalition for International Justice. She was a member of the Twentieth Century Task Force to Apprehend War Criminals, a Board member of People for the American Way and the Creative Coalition.

Facebook page: Bianca Jagger Human Rights
Twitter: @BiancaJagger
Email: [e-mail]

----------------------------------------------

She has done quite well for herself despite being the ex-wife of Mick Jagger.

[MadHound]

23. Did she say this right before she hopped back onto her private jet?

She is saying the right things, but it is her lifestyle that is contributing to the problem.

[Subdivisions]

24. We ALL contribute to the problem. How about let's concentrate on the

message and not the messenger.

Is oil depletion a problem or not? Make your case.

[MadHound]

25. Yes, but the fact of the matter is that the rich and/or famous contribute far more to the problem

That the rest of us. Jetting from here to there, multiple large, energy consuming homes, more cares, more stuff in general.

If they are so worried about peak oil and global warming, then they need to start walking the walk, not talking the talk.

[Subdivisions]

26. Well, somebody has to deliver the message. I agree with you. But

in order to get the issue the attention is most surely deserves, these people must do it within the current paradigm, which absolutely requires that they use oil. I happen to know that many who are attempting to warn us of this issue are making up for their use of oil in other ways: energy effecient homes, electric/hybrid cars, solar panels, etc.

Regardless, we have to concentrate on the message, not how it's being delivered. We are all stuck in the current paradigm until we are not.

[Subdivisions]

30. A chart to ponder:

The long-predicted "Bumpy Plateau" of peak oil production, this IS Peak Oil:



Once production begins an earnest decline from this plateau, it will be terminal and no amount of denial or fanatasies of scalable oil replacements will reverse the consequences, which we're already living.

[AngryAmish]

31. says noted geologist and petroleum economist, Bianca Jagger.

[Subdivisions]

32. She's only repeating what noted geologists and petroleum economists have

told her as the head of an international human rights and climate change foundation, as shown in my post here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9284801&mesg_id=9286559

Why is her assessment any less informed than any other motivated study of the subject? Besides, what do you have to say about the issue of Peak Oil? The title of my post simply repeats the content within. It's not about Bianca Jagger. This is about Peak Oil. So, please, how about some commentary on the topic at hand and not personal derision of the messenger?

[AngryAmish]

33. Next time, I'll ask Lemmy's ex-wife about the subject.