Quote Originally Posted by VictorCharlie View Post
Tito,

I get the feeling you didn't read the article b/c the title is a bit tongue in cheek furthermore Reason internally source's all their documents. In short Libertarians deal with facts and logic unlike the other two major parties. They do a pretty good job of showing how we have allegedly been about to run out of oil multiple times only to find new deposits and new technologies to get resources previously believed out of reach. The bottlenecking is not some political game it is a real result of refineries being closed in the last 12 months for a variety of reasons which is slowing the supply side and causing the current spike in prices. I'm not sure if your last bit is pointed at me or not but I probably spend more time in the woods than most on this board and have a real vested interest in the environment and conservation. I don't worry about reports on dwindling oil reserves b/c it is an attempt to manufacture a false crisis. So yeah there is a certain level of doomsday proponents and alarmists out there beating the drum not altruistically but to further their own interests.

It's like many other issues, VC. Unfortunately, there's always going to be the fanatical "alarmists" and "doomsayers" that ruin the argument for everyone else. AND... provide oil companies and anti-environmentalists with good ammunition with which to fire back at the responsible people who just want their points to be heard. And while some bottlenecks may be in fact due to supply problems at some point.... there's been other, well-documented instances where oil "shortages" are nothing but attempts by OPEC to control prices for their own greedy capital gains.

Quote Originally Posted by El Kabong View Post
So WHEN will we run out of oil then? Next year? 5 years from now? 10? 50? 100? 1,000? 10,000 years? Since the day oil was first found & put to use people have said we're going to run out and at this point they have the same "batting average" as the people who have predicted "The Rapture"....so you can understand my being hesitant to side with them.

My view on the subject is this: if you want to find alternative fuel sources fine but do not expect me to use them if they are not cheap & effective, also I do not wish for my government to subsidize such flights of fancy when they are currently not practical. It is a waste of time and money and while there is still starvation & disease we should focus on those issues...perhaps better schools as well...as those things might one day lead to the discovery of a good source of alternative fuel. All the Anthropogenic Global Warming eggheads are doing these days is leeching off of government grants, lining the pockets of politicians with their bullshit boondoggle IPO's, and hurting the average person in the wallet. Gas is over $4/gallon in LA....nice stuff.

Leave out the "next year", 5 years, 1,000 years, and the 10,000 years.... and the real number is anybody's guess, Lyle. I can only talk about what I've read in supposedly neutral publications. I read that at the current rate of consumption, with most other factors considered, we could be looking at a major dropoff in "readily obtainable" oil by the decade of the 2050's. Who knows?

And please read the following statement carefully: I too do not wish to pay for alternative energy sources that are not cheap and effective. That doesn't mean I don't want research and development to continue to try and make alternative energy sources cheap and effective.

Please read the following statement carefully also: I too do not wish for massive government subsidies to pursue these alternative fuels at the expense of other causes that need money. BUT... I also do not wish for development of these alternatives to be "discouraged" by the mighty financial powers that represent oil interests. Let's not be naive here. It is not in Exxon's best interests for some scientist and/or engineer to suddenly discover and develop a technology that allows us to free ourselves from our addiction to oil.