Barack Obama and Peak Oil

It should come as no surprise that Barack Obama tapped Gov. Bill Richardson for support in Senator Obama's bid for the Democratic Nomination for President. As a former Energy Secretary in the Clinton Administration, he can bring insights into American use of oil and its role in international relations. It will be interesting to see if and how John McCain, Republican Nominee, will tap expertise on the matter of oil.

Carbon Emissions: Peak Oil Sidestep

We are bombarded with political messaging from governments around the world about global warming and the possible linkage between carbon emissions and global warming. When it comes to peak oil, the issue is not mainstream in most countries, although some people in government are talking about the issue.

This observer believes that all the talk about carbon emissions and the need to reduce them is a ruse to cover for the fact that the amount of hydrocarbons the earth is going to burn from now on will decline owing to peak oil and declining supply. When carbon emissions come down because less oil is being burned, they will claim success and also claim that it was their policies on emission reductions that brought about lower consumption of oil when the supply is really in decline.

Peak oil and its implications are just too big and uncontrollable a political issue for governments to deal with so they sidestep the issue and talk about the Kyoto Protocol and carbon emissions. Governments are not prepared to deal with the changes that rising fuel prices will bring to domestic and international markets. They will deal with the phenomenon on an ad hoc basis.