[Vision2020] 3/13/2012 Institute for Public Accuracy: "High Gas Prices Are Here to Stay, Here's Why‏"

[Ted Moffett]

How can it be that, as the scholar quoted below states, "In energy terms,
we are now entering a world whose grim nature has yet to be fully grasped."?

I fully grasped this "grim nature" at least as early as the 1980s; and it
seems that anyone with even a cursory evaluation of finite oil reserves
exploited at ever increasing rates with ever increasing global population
and development, with oil prices set on a global marketplace, would grasp
this.  The easy cheap oil is less available now, thus witness the large
scale exploitation of the Canadian tar sands, that were not long ago not
even listed as commercially recoverable.

I suppose the scholar might mean that people are in denial regarding the
reality of the situation, hands over ears shouting "I can't hear you!" as
demands for more drilling for oil are presented as a serious solution to
the the long term problem of increasing gasoline costs.
-------------------------------------
Institute for Public Accuracy
980 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 *

http://www.accuracy.org

ipa at accuracy.org
___________________________________________________

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

High Gas Prices Are Here to Stay, Here's Why


MICHAEL T. KLARE, via Leslie Brandon, leslie.brandon at hholt.com,
http://us.macmillan.com/theraceforwhatsleft/MichaelKlare

    Klare is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire
College and the author of the new book "The Race for What's Left: The
Global Scramble for the World's Last Resources." He just wrote the piece "A
Tough-Oil World: Why Twenty-First Century Oil Will Break the Bank -- and
the Planet," which states: "Oil prices are now higher than they have ever
been -- except for a few frenzied moments before the global economic
meltdown of 2008. Many immediate factors are contributing to this surge,
including Iran’s threats to block oil shipping in the Persian Gulf, fears
of a new Middle Eastern war, and turmoil in energy-rich Nigeria. Some of
these pressures could ease in the months ahead, providing temporary relief
at the gas pump. But the principal cause of higher prices -- a fundamental
shift in the structure of the oil industry -- cannot be reversed, and so
oil prices are destined to remain high for a long time to come.

"In energy terms, we are now entering a world whose grim nature has yet to
be fully grasped. This pivotal shift has been brought about by the
disappearance of relatively accessible and inexpensive petroleum -- “easy
oil,” in the parlance of industry analysts; in other words, the kind of oil
that powered a staggering expansion of global wealth over the past 65 years
and the creation of endless car-oriented suburban communities. This oil is
now nearly gone.

"The world still harbors large reserves of petroleum, but these are of the
hard-to-reach, hard-to-refine, 'tough oil' variety. From now on, every
barrel we consume will be more costly to extract, more costly to refine --
and so more expensive at the gas pump. ...

"As with the Deepwater Horizon disaster, oil extraction in deep-offshore
areas and other extreme geographical locations will ensure ever greater
environmental risks. After all, approximately five million gallons of oil
were discharged into the Gulf of Mexico, thanks to BP’s negligence, causing
extensive damage to marine animals and coastal habitats.

"Keep in mind that, as catastrophic as it was, it occurred in the Gulf of
Mexico, where vast cleanup forces could be mobilized and the ecosystem’s
natural recovery capacity was relatively robust. The Arctic and Greenland
represent a different story altogether, given their distance from
established recovery capabilities and the extreme vulnerability of their
ecosystems. Efforts to restore such areas in the wake of massive oil spills
would cost many times the $30-$40 billion BP is expected to pay for the
Deepwater Horizon damage and be far less effective. ...

"And don’t forget the final cost: If all these barrels of oil and oil-like
substances are truly produced from the least inviting of places on this
planet, then for decades to come we will continue to massively burn fossil
fuels, creating ever more greenhouse gases as if there were no tomorrow.
And here’s the sad truth: if we proceed down the tough-oil path instead of
investing as massively in alternative energies, we may foreclose any hope
of averting the most catastrophic consequences of a hotter and more
turbulent planet.

"So yes, there is oil out there. But no, it won’t get cheaper, no matter
how much there is. And yes, the oil companies can get it, but looked at
realistically, who would want it?" http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175515

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167
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Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett
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