Although many American citizens don't realize it yet, the nation (and the world) faces a terrible twin threat: Global warming and peak oil.
Either of the twin threats has the potential to destroy our country and, indeed, civilization as we know it. (I hesitate using such a dire term as "destroy our...civilization." It brings to mind certain science fiction & super hero movies where the hero is tasked to "save the universe." While the universe may not be at stake with global warming & peak oil, a lot on Earth is at stake.)
So we are faced with the incredible tasks of meeting the global warming threat and the peak oil threat. Can we really tackle the two threats simultaneously?
My answer to the above question is no!
Although both threats eventually have to be dealt with, it is my opinion that peak oil is already upon us (or arriving) as I write this. Judging from the soaring prices of oil, gas, and other commodities dependent of oil (practically everything!), peak oil must be dealt with quickly or this country and much of the civilized world will be in economic chaos in a few years. The full fury of global warming is probably a few years away although recent scientific observations indicate it will arrive faster than we once thought..
In the very long run, global warming may be the larger threat, but, if we can't handle peak oil, there may not be much left for global warming to screw up when it arrives.
In addition to the time-of-arrival factor, there are several other pertinent reasons to give top priority to solving the peak oil crisis first.
1. Many (but not all) of the solutions to the peak oil threat will also mitigate the global warming problem.
2. U.S. oil production peaked about 3 decades ago and oil production has declined to where we now must import about 2/3 of the oil we consume. As the price of oil charges upward, the strain on the American economy has grown rapidly. The pressure on the American government to seize the oil assets of oil-rich countries may become to strong to resist. Oil wars anyone..........?
3. Natural gas production in the U.S., while in much better shape than oil production, is now peaking and, already, Natural gas is the "clean" fuel and also an excellent "alternative" fuel. We need to increase our supply of it as much as possible. Even though the world's reserves of natural gas are much larger than for oil, world peak gas will follow peak oil after a lag time of several years or, hopefully, several decades.
4. Although some progress had been made with developing alternative energy sources, the overall effort has been miserable in my opinion. Ethanol and other biofuels were our big hope, but it is now generally recognized among the experts ethanol (at least corn ethanol) may cause so many problems that it is not worth the effort......but please don't tell the corn farmers. The experts also say that other biofuels may not be much help either. Time recently had an excellent article on the subject.
To solve the peak oil problem, we need alternative energy sources. These sources will help with global warming, also.
The highly regarded Seeking Alpha blog recently had an excellent article and lengthy commenter discussion outlining an overall policy for dealing with peak oil. Every aspect of peak oil and possible solutions was discussed. Strongly recommended!
1. Global Warming & Al Gore. Global warming may be worse than World War 2 before it is finished.
2. Solar Energy, Ethanol, Biodiesel, & Wind Power. Featured are alternative energy sources solar energy, ethanol, biodiesel, & wind power.
3. Germany in World War 2. German side of World War 2.
Both global warming and peak oil are very serious problems (possibly the most serious problems in history!) the U.S. and the world must face. However, peak oil must receive priority over global warming because peak oil will occur first.