Peak Oil

One problem I see with this issue is that it isn’t properly explained.
This is obvious because a lot of people think the hydrogen fuel cell is the answer.
It is NOT.

Human kind needs a new energy Source.
Technologies like the H fuel cell is not a source it is a medium and it is useful.
Once we develop a new source, or use the ones we have like wind and solar, the fuel cell will give us a good way to store this energy in a mobile form (we use batteries now, and they suck).

Ethanol, to my knowledge, uses more power to refine it than it gives off. I personally think this is some stupid idea oil companies are feeding us as a solution, so we don’t create the change we need. IE phasing out cars.

I used to wonder, "When will people open their eyes? When will resource use patterns change, and when will we do something about the damage we're doing to our environment and ourselves, and about our unsustainable way of life?"

Now, with more natural and humanitarian disasters being related to climate change, people are starting to talk about it. I think it just has to get worse before it gets better. People won't proactively change, it has to be that it isn't worth their while to go on as they are, at the time they make the decision.

Now I only wonder if it will be too late or not.

@jeff, we need to decrease our consumption. alterntaive sources won't come close to meeting the demand.

We need to decrease our consumption is a sound idea. But how can we potentially do this, when all those in higher positions of power think the opposite? to what degree you think our personal choices have an any effects, when majority of people don't even think about changing ways. have you been to the mall lately?

How long are we going to go around our fucked up political system and blame our own habits only? the changes need to be made BOTH on a personal level AND from above. We need to put people in charge who think like us, people who won't go behind our back and resell everything to the banks and the corporations.

the rest of it is a religious fight from the point of view of guilt with an external world that constantly encourages you to consume more. People are not interested in this. if some changes are made from above, then those personal sacrifices won't become so personal; it would be everyone's through government intervention.

Agreed.

Rather than let the media continue to provide a one-sided view on this situation, I suggest you read: The Bottomless Well: The Twilight of Fuel, the Virtue of Waste, and Why We Will Never Run Out of Energy. I don't know if I agree with the concept but it is an interesting perspective.

Hi,
the issue at hand is not easy, there is eternal "war" between the peak-oil people and the ones that try to downplay the problem. As most things, everything has two sides. As an example, please read this article in the New Yorker:
http://www.newyorker.com/talk/content/articles/061127ta_talk_surowiecki

Talking about vicious circle. I wonder how the issue of Ethanol imports and oil subsidies is being treated in Canada?

There's always Cuba as an exampe and model for positive action in a time of energy crisis. It definately wasn't easy for them, and it's not likely to be easy for any other place to make lasting changes, but it could happen.