The Importance of Peak Oil

letter to the Portland Tribune

Thank you for Robert Pace’s take on peak oil. The real issue however, was missed. The end of cheap energy is not the problem, it’s the fact that most people, including our elected leaders are woefully ignorant of the real consequences of fossil fuel over-consumption. The response needs to be immediate and pervasive – LESS of everything. Americans are the biggest consumers of energy per capita, almost double that of Sweden, the next country on the list. When Pace suggests that the impact will affect how governments “do business” in the future, the reality of the situation is more urgent. Governments need to listen to and engage the people on this issue TODAY if they want to avoid severe and potentially violent consequences in the future. With the energy we have left today, we need to restructure our transportation, energy, and economic systems to thrive on local and regional scales. This issue is critical for everyone but especially if you have children. Portlandpeakoil.org is a great place to start.