The Grauniad seems to be dying - hurrah!

'My BF and her DH are both oil industry consultants. They all reckon the 40 year prediction is about right.'

The Chief Medical Officer reckoned there was going to be a swine flu pandemic, and many doctors believed it too.

humanity and the people will win.

now I've lost track of what they need to defeat. In the limit, probably the laws of physics.

Hmm, my BIL works in the oil industry. In exploration. My BF and her DH are both oil industry consultants. They all reckon the 40 year prediction is about right.

Humanity is safe, we will thrive, provided we are not stopped and hampered by political forces. Don't believe the doom-laden lies of catastrophic destruction - they are all done for political purposes to hinder humanity. It's like that old hymn "we shall overcome". "It's over" and humanity and the people will win.

the progressives will eventually be left stranded on the shore

Kind of wish it were so. Wouldn't wish to see the reactionaries submerged standing on where the shore used to be. Time will tell, indeed.

Of course its mostly about geopolitics. Of course the oil industry has a vested interest in understatement. All sorts of other materials will probably run out before the oil, which may of itself make developing alternatives much more challenging.

And as you say it is all about power, the economy and geopolitics and has absolutely nothing to do with scientists looking down their microscopes. It appears that teh powerful are turning the tide against global warming for economic and other reasons. The game's up and it will soon be over.

Agree, MoreBeta. Excellent analysis. Haven't been keeping up with this side of things. Didn't realise that Bilderberg has played down climate change. That adds to my view that the tide is turning on climate change and the progressives will eventually be left stranded on the shore.

slug,
"the latest predictions by the oil industry"
the key phrase there is by the "oil industry". It is to their interest to claim that there is a shortage and we only have 40 years left, just as it is to the interest of the climate change lobby to say that "we have only 50 days left to save the planet".

claig/slug/Grimma - the oil market is getting slammed this afternoon. Prices hard down 4 -5% as the IEA issue an emergency press release suggesting oil will be drawn down from strategic reserves of 60 million barrels (30 million from US reserves). US troops being withdrawn from Afghanistan and redeployed. Bilderberg meeting in June down played climate change. Bahrain just been given $20bn by the Gulf cooperation council to stabilise the politcal unrest. All anounced in the last 24 hours.

Key geopolitical issues in Iran, China and US now come to the fore before Xmas. Rifts between religious leaders and President in Iran, political unrest and economic slow down in China and Presidential election in USA.

Peak Oil is a nonsense. Geopolitics are the key issue. USA is still a major hydrocarbon producer and consumer and control major untapped reserves in Alaska, Iraq and Saudi. China has little or no oil of its own but Iran is a major strategic supplier. China has just built an advanced aircraft carrier.

Interesting times.

Wow!! since the latest predictions by the oil industry are that at the8 current* rate of consumption there's about another 40 years left, I'm intriquied to see how much humanity will have advanced during that time. Mind you, we'll have to stop China, India and all those developing nations from using more oil if we want to keep it that long.

Yes, 'they' are the scientists, the sons and daughters of the people, educated at the people's universities so that they can one day contribute to the health and prosperity of the people. Yes one day the oil will run out and they will discover other energy sources, and if we fund our universities adequately, hopefully they will come up with something better than windmills. Otherwise a progressive will be having a laugh.

'They' being... the scientists and technologists who know Peak Oil is inevitable and so are researching alternatives.

By the time all the oil runs out, humanity will have advanced tremendously and will have invented new energy sources that we as yet can't imagine. They won't need to turn the clock back, to stop progress and use the greens' windmills. They will find much better energy sources than that.

Whether the Alaskan oil is extracted or not, its going to run out sometime. The timing is not yet defined - and there may be a few more undiscovered reserves - but then on the other hand there's growing demand for energy.

Bio-fuels, in the form it initially took, was indeed a colossal mistake and has widely been recognised as such.

TSC/ I don't get involved in heavy online debates anymore - partly due to not having the time, and partly due to a ' been there/done that ' philosophy -
I have masses of opinions but I chat more about them on F/B - MN is for my parenting needs - and support.
I've just re- read that post I sent you and agree I came across as a bit angry ( not sure why? as I'm not ) So I'm sorry about that.

'Or, alternatively claig, drilling for oil in Alaska harms the environment, which in turn harms humans.'

Yes, that is what the progressives say. Who do you believe? I think the tide is turning. The article I linked to about the ex head of the civil service, Tony Blair's cabinet Secretary, shows that. I believe Sarah Palin. The progressives ridicule her now, but they won't for long, as she gets more and more power and as the tide starts to turn.

I love how DM being read by many somehow makes it an important bit of journalism. It's like saying that because many people watch Eastenders it's an important piece of acting/scriptwriting.

Or, alternatively claig, drilling for oil in Alaska harms the environment, which in turn harms humans. Or is an oil based economy more important than breathable air?

I love to hear the mythhs about "guardianistas" from people who evidently haven't actually read the Guardian's support for the ground zero mosque. I searched and searched for the fabled "speeches of Gordon Brown" that claig speaks of, and found none.

I also wonder if part of the Daily Mail's popularity is, as has been suggested earlier it's readibility. The Daily mail consistently scores in reading age tests as somewhere around a reading age of 11-13, whereas the Guardian and Independant need a reading age nearer 18.

One wonders how the DM would approach that? "SHOCK, Broken Britain's dumbed down education system now means most UK students are incapable of understanding the Guardian!!"

I think peak oil is another scam that benefits progressives and billionaires and harms the people. Sarah Palin wants to drill for oil in Alaska but due to the green, environmental laws she is not able to. This keeps oil prices high and harms the economy and the people, and helps the progressives, billionaires and oil companies. It is just like the green, environmental policies that have led to food being grown for bio-fuels (to help the fight against "climate change"), which harms the people, increases food prices, leads to food riots across the globe and to potential mass starvation of millions of people. It harms the people and helps the billionaires and progressives.

If Sarah Palin becomes President, then the tide will turn, the wheels of the economy will turn, and the policies of the progressives will be adjourned.

Uh-huh

But even if you think climate change is a cult, surely you've got to accept that Peak Oil will happen sometime, so many of the switches away from carbon are going to be necessary anyway? I've lived through the false alarm of the 70s, so know that the timing may be out, but the black stuff is a finite resource. (sorry, don't know what the DM doctrine is on this).

The Good Lord himself has sent Sarah to save us in our darkest hour. It's mighty hot and globally warm in Satan's global warming hell. But fortunately, it won't be for us.

Agree, MoreBeta. It would have been better for the people if he had spoken out earlier, but better late than never. The tide is turning, the people are learning. It's oooover, it's oooover.

OneHelluvaBroad, the progressives can't believe that Sarah Palin is for real, but fortunately for us, she is.