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German Military Braces For Peak Oil
myrdos2 writes "A study by a German military think tank leaked to the Internet warns of the potential for a dire global economic crisis in as little as 15 years as a result of a peak and an irreversible decline in world oil supplies. The study states that there is 'some probability that peak oil will occur around the year 2010 and that the impact on security is expected to be felt 15 to 30 years later. ... In the medium term the global economic system and every market-oriented national economy would collapse.' The report closely matches one from the US military earlier this year, which stated that surplus oil production capacity could disappear within two years and there could be serious shortages by 2015 with a significant economic and political impact."
Let's also keep in mind that the only reason oil is approaching "peak" is that we aren't continuing to drill. "Peak" oil has nothing to do with the amount of oil available, just how fast we're able/willing to access that oil.
Now, if the government allowed drilling in certain verboten areas, we'd be further away from "peak". But do we really care about "peak"? So what? What we really need in order to bring gasoline prices down is more refineries (which have been getting closed all over).
While I'm aware that EVENTUALLY oil will run out, I find "studies" like this hard to take seriously considering that there have been anti-oil people screaming "We're almost out of oil" since the late 1800's.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
Yes, reactors of many types have been built. The problem (and my point) is that none of those experimental reactors built have delivered the safe and inexpensive power that was promised.
Worse, none have even shown that the respective technology has the potential to become safe and inexpensive.
The cold fusion was a lame joke, although in terms of feasibility it is in the same ballpark.
Please, show me evidence of an economist who said exponential growth can go on forever. Economists are the ones who'll tell you that not only can it not go on forever, but it'll almost always only happen for an extremely short time. If you'd even taken a simple "Principles of Economics" class, you'd know that one of the central tenants of Economics is scarcity of resources - which by definition means that it's impossible for exponential growth to go on forever.
It's people like you who know nothing about economics that dreamed up this myth of "economists think exponential growth can go on forever". That's one of the biggest problems with trying to get good economic policies implemented - the fact that every idiot who's ever paid a bill or heard the term "supply and demand" thinks that they're an expert at economics, despite having no economic education. The people like you are extremely dangerous for society. Not only are you ignorant (not that big a deal, everyone is ignorant about something), but you refuse to lean and simultaneously delude yourself into thinking you're an expert in economics. You know how on House he berates people with no medical training for thinking that they know more about how to treat an illness than a doctor? That's the same situation here - you have no training in the field and yet you think you know more than the experts.
The really clever ones that are guiding us through these hard times.
No, Obama and his lackeys are "guiding" us. His economic policies are utterly atrocious, which is why at the Economics department at my University, I knew a whole one student (and no professors) who voted for him. You're probably referring to the fact that every time Obama shits the White House says "The President's Council of Economic Advisors recommended the plan" - because the White House would never be stupid enough to say "Even though the CEA advises against this because it will harm the economy, the President has decided to do it anyways".
I know I'll get modded down for this post - it happens all the time. The majaority of people on Slashdot are so used to being smart in math / chemistry / computers that they've deluded themselves into thinking that they're an expert in every field. I think I've come across one person other than myself on Slashdot who actually has a degree(s) in Economics. If people like you listened to the experts instead of believing that you're an expert without ever studying, we probably wouldn't be in this recession right now.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
So you don't believe in evolution then ? (Evolution states that, no matter your opinions on the matter, population levels will grow to fill any available resource levels. Even if some part of them decides to conserve, that just means the conservers die and get replaced).
Because the whole point of science is that you can push policies that are not known to be 100% certain failures.
Unless, of course, you think Darwin was wrong (and all evolutionists since).
Actually generally it is argued that morality was just some "quaint" PRE-enlightenment idea (you know the whole Jesus will throw you in hell if you don't help your fellow man).
Morality was believed to be obsolete, replaced by "utilitarianism", by the enlightenment philosophers. And, generally assumed, by most philosophers since. Utilitarianism, by Christian standards, is pure evil (e.g. a utilitarian would steal, rape, kill, ... if he just wouldn't get caught, so only military force is holding society together).
E.g. by "postmodern" philosophers, morality is considered a rhetorical device to be used against Christians (and ...), and nothing else. Certainly, they believe in the "application of force to change society", mostly against the wishes of the population. Truth, good, evil, law, and illegal are merely imposed by the strongest, and their goal is to become the strongest. (too bad, of course, that philosophers and academics in general, like their more moral predecessors, are such crybabies).