The fact that the US Department of Defense seems to be the world's biggest user of high quality oil, is a big, big problem. How can we avoid playing into the hands of the Military Industrial Complex?

See here:

http://www.energybulletin.net/26194.html

How to carefully use the remaining oil for the greatest good is a knotty problem. How will we wrest ownership off the War Machine?

I suppose we are going to have to hold Godzilla's head underwater until he finally drowns.

- any volunteers?

I agree with Chris, if we don't use oil terrorists won't want to defend it. We have a range of greenhouse neutral ways to produce electricity, what we lack is the political will from both sides of politics.

In greenhouse terms oil is less of a problem than coal as it is facing rapid depletion. Production of crude and condensate has already peaked worldwide and 'all liquids' including ethanol and tar sands is stuck on 85 million barrels per day. Credible forecaster Samson Bhaktiari predicts that will drop to 55 mbpd by 2020. Like nuclear electricity it is thought that coal derived liquid fuel can't be brought onstream fast enough to offset oil's decline. Then in turn natural gas and coal will peak so we will have burned most of the fossil fuel and the emissions problem will abate after 2050. Trouble is severe climate change, energy shortages and regional conflict will have made the Earth a hellish place to live. This is within the lifetime of today's children.

The alternative is to conserve that fossil fuel and move to cleaner alternatives. Apart from some feeble gestures very few countries seem capable of achieving that alternative.

Whats happened to Online Opinion forum?
All of todays posts are on the "left" side of the culture wars divide--even Mirko. His article being one of his better essays.
And they all have some useful and challenging things to say.
Unlike the usual one dimensional cliches of the IPA clones and their repetitive me, me, me, mantra.

the problem is not ecological, it's political. western society is commercial, not political. most decisions are made with, and for, and by money.

any one with the price can choose to do something anti-social such as going to pick up a newspaper in a hummer.

the course of this type of society is seeming to lead to disaster. so i suggest we change to a political society where discussion and referendum set public policy. it's called "democracy"

This is a good article that expresses an obvious link between two of the biggest problems that the world currently faces. I've often said that it will prove to be seen that one of the most tragic coincidences in history was the discovery of the first large oil deposits in the Middle East.

Of course, oil is not the only contributor to greenhouse emissions, nor is it the only source of income that funds Islamism, however it remains a major contributor to both. The sooner the West weans itself off its addiction to oil the better.