So a peak oil denier bothered me. This was my response:
Mr. Lynch, I’m sure you believe what you’re saying–after all, you make a fair amount of cash doing so, so why not believe your own twaddle? What’s galling, though, is how you mis-characterize peak oil, even having the stones to say scientists–who aren’t PAID insider cheerleaders like you–can’t see through their “science” to “causality”. (You also jump to the defense of the 21st century phrenologists known as “economists”; not a good ploy if you want to be taken seriously.)
Even though you know it already, let’s properly characterize peak oil here so whatever readership you have isn’t confused by you (though I suspect that is the “causality” you seek): peak oil is about the end of CHEAP energy, not the end of oil. You can harrumph all you want and call humbug, but we BOTH know Deepwater Horizons don’t happen in a world that is NOT at or near the peak. Preaching to the choir that the stuff is “out there” (you and Fox Mulder have at least that much in common) doesn’t change the fact that black gold ain’t dribbling out of hills in Pennsylvania any more, and that’s what it will take moving forward to fire up all Priuses in China, India, the US and elsewhere in a world of 7+ billion oil-addicted “civilized” consumers.
Peak oil “fear” doesn’t exist except in the minds of shills like you. It is a FACT that on a finite planet runaway resource usage–whether it’s oil, coal, uranium or any other raw material–will lead to that resource’s depletion and decline.
But I’m sure you’ll figure out a way to work around the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Maybe the plasma resulting from your hot air will be enough to fire up a sustaining fusion reaction. For all our sakes, I pray that is so…. (But wait! We haven’t figured out how to contain that energy yet. Perhaps you have some magnetic container design that would work? You know, the kind of thing scientists, those woeful confusers of causality, waste their time on?)
Another example of my over-the-topness when it comes to written intercourse. Still, I haven’t done that in a while; it felt pretty good.
Even so, the fundamental issue is vexing. People literally WANT to be lied to, to ignore their own intellects, so that they can party on until The End. Assholes like Lynch play to these empty-headed souls’ weaknesses, diverting us from the honest assessments of our situation that are absolutely vital for our survival.
And, yeah, I’m not that concerned with human survival. But I AM concerned that we will fuck up the Earth to the point that there will not be another chance for real intelligence to rise on this planet. Hence, we need to stop this “drill, baby, drill” nonsense NOT because we’re at the peak of oil resource usage–we most definitely are, but because we threaten the very environment that gave rise to us and countless other species. We are NOT the measure of all things, and the remainder of the flora and fauna on this planet, and all the possibilities of new species to come, should not be at the mercy of a stupid, self-involved and self-indulgent species in any shape or form, least of all for that craven species’ “need” to be able to drive to MciCrap for their burger and cell phone.