Re: [Marxism] Peak oil redux

[Intense Red <intnsred@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

On Thursday 11 June 2009, S. Artesian wrote:
 > Again?  Can it be any more transparent? "Peak oil" as a theory is nothing
 > but a derivative of market prices.

   I would disagree.

   First, there is no doubt that prices are rigged and played by various 
companies and capitalists for their own greed and maximum profit. I don't 
disagree with you there.

   But the reality is that an oil field will dry up. The oil field will hit a 
peak of production and all the nifty technology in the world won't bring its 
production back to what it once was.

   If we take that idea to a higher level, a country's oil production will 
also peak as its resources are tapped and exploited. US oil production peaked 
in the 70s and Alaskan North Slope oil, new discoveries, and new technologies 
have never changed the fact that the US peak oil production is behind us and 
we will never hit that high again.

   Therefore, isn't it logical that a world oil production peak exists?

   As the price of oil increases some new discoveries or previously 
too-expensive-to-exploit oil will come into play, as will new technology. But 
there will nonetheless exist a peak of oil production as we exploit this 
finite resource.

   Given the huge environmental problems we face, it is doubly important that 
we accept peak oil -- we simply cannot expect to go on burning things forever 
in the wasteful ways that we have in the past.

   When one adds in other factors, for example, the US "Silk Road Strategy" 
and its wars in Asia, to me that adds credence to the fact that peak oil is 
real.

   Much Marxist thought evolved in a time when the limits of resources were 
barely considered. We live in a different world now, where we are tapping out 
many of our resources -- ocean fisheries stand out, for example. The left 
needs to seriously address this issue and develop strategies on how to 
explain this to people.


-- 
"Natural science will in time incorporate into itself the science of man, just 
as the science of man will incorporate into itself natural science: there 
will be one science." -- Karl Marx 

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