Posted By:
Chuck RossTed: I'm not oil-phobic, I just believe we are in a very serious situation. At the turn of this century, worldwide oil reserves were about 1.3 trillion barrels and current consumption is about 30 billion barrels a year.
I'll let you do the math, but it doesn't work out to all that many years of oil (and this ignores the accelerated rate of demand in India, China, Brazil, etc that we will see in the coming years). Geologists estimate the Alaskan reserve as having about 10.4 billion barrels tops. High estimates for the continental shelf reserves range up to about 115 billion barrels. Ted, you're a smart guy, do the math here...are these viable long term solutions? I am sure as we get desperate to keep the machines moving that we will tap into these and every other possible place we can find oil but by the time this century ends it seems certain that the levels of transportation we see now will be a long forgotten memory unless we can find some other way to provide the energy to propel vehicles around. No, I don't know the answer to what that solution will be, but I have faith that if we have a "send a man to the moon" type national agenda devoted to finding the answer that we will find the answer if it's there. If not, then I suspect that the US and the world will revert to some sort of Mad Max/Road Warrior type environment where gasoline is fought over ferociously. Ted, my dad fought in the Pacific in WWII and in Korea, I have the utmost respect for the men fighting in Iraq...I just think it is a pointless waste of our time and resources.