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...These "doomers," as they're called among the peaknik community, congregate online at DieOff.org, AnthroPik.com and dozens of other apocalyptic sites dedicated to discussing when the sky will fall and what to do afterward. (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080307.LOIL07/TPStory/Environment)

http://www.youtube.com/v/Ulxe1ie-vEY
Patrick White - Globe & Mail - March 7, 2008

The grab-your-gun-and-head-for-the-hills scenario goes something like this: In the next year or so, world oil production will peak and then promptly plummet, forced down by sinking reserves. While supply crashes, demand will grow. Virtually overnight, fuel will become so dear that farm tractors will go idle, people will go hungry and homes will go cold. Financial markets will collapse and social chaos will follow.

Are you ready?

The doomsday image may sound like the half-baked plot of a Schwarzenegger flick, but thousands of North Americans are taking it seriously enough to stock up on non-perishable food, recycle their own manure, build home gardens, bone up on canning techniques, even undergo "socially responsible vasectomies" to limit their energy reliance.

With the price of a.... http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080307.LOIL07/TPStory/Environment

Much of our prosperity is related to cheap oil.

As oil becomes scarce and is no longer cheap, we're in big trouble. We should have taken action 20 years ago.

What will happen? I don't expect the consequences to be sudden. Oil will continue to trend up in price, with the usual fluctuations that may mask the trend. But the trend exists now, and I don't see anything that would change the trend, other than drastic conservation measures, which Americans in particular seem incapable of.

Harry

I'd vote SEVERE recession or LONG recession. Closest choice was Great Depression.

The cast system in the states is pretty soft, so it just means I have to go from a house to an apartment. Cut all the Starbucks and pinch pennies.

The millionaires of the 20's turned into thousandairs. I won't go broke... It will just get tight for 10 years.

Money is easy to make in America. Just requires more work and longer hours. I know for certain that my family wont go hungry because of the price of gas, but you can rest assured we'll trade in our cell phones and broadband connection.

11011011

I know many rural dwellers who are quite well 'pre-adapted', whether or not they are cocerned about peak oil. Cities are more problematical, because they rely on fossil fuels.

On the scale of nations, one can look at energy use per capita, Larger numbers suggest greater exposure to risk.

It never hurts to review your skills that might come in handy, or learn some new ones. I just read an article about how US rural areas are facing veterinarian shortages, and probably was among the few who thought of the peak oil implications of that. A small, healthy fleet of large animals could come in very handy under severe gasoline & diesel shortages.

On a whim, I just searched "Mother Jones' for cellulosic ethanol. 15 articles on the large-scale political and economic implications, but nothing for the do it yourselfer. This seems wrong. A little applied bacteriology could be a very good skill. Note I am not talking about sugar -> ethanol; anybody can do that. But we and the animal fleet will have other uses for corn & beets.

Maybe it's all a bad dream, and we shall soon awake...

DAS

I swear for every one article I read on the topic of "Peak Oil", I read 3 on the apocalyptic doomsdayers.

It's likely because it fits nicely into the "both sides of the story, the truth is probably in the middle, I'm not going to investigate" tendency of the media.

I worry about the fate of our democratic institutions as much as our economy. They can succumb in difficult times. Yes, I too can envision a very painful, protracted 10 years.

Good advice is to get in shape. More walking, more biking, more re-localization of economies. Peak Oil is about less mobility, except for whoever happens to steal my Prius PHEV in 2021 for the 4th time.

not gonna happen, too many resources in this country, we may dip a lil bit, but with enough of a bounce to make our economy go through the roof. this puts all of the US' greatest to the test, and we'll be able to show the world who we really are....

I don't see rescission either. If one does occur it may last a few (two) years if not shorter. We won't see a major recession like the Great Depression of the 1930s.