Up until about four years ago I believed most of the peak oil stuff myself. Many years ago I read "Small is Beautiful" by EF Schumacher (1973), and that book was an influence on my thinking. But in recent years I have come to realise that "peak oil", just like "global warming", "the war on some drugs", "healthy low-fat diets", and many other things, is a huge con-job.
Recently I met a guy called Robert Atack, who has a webpage called www.oilcrash.com. He gave me some DVD's. He seemed like a genuine and honest guy doing his best to do good things for the planet. It's ironic that he would be the final straw that would cause me to post on peak oil, I'm sure this viewpoint is the last thing he would want to encourage...
While I'm quite impatient with people who believe in global warming, because it's such a clear cut con-job, the peak oil stuff is much harder to follow, and if someone thought I was clueless for saying it's a con-job, I can understand why. I actually agree with many of the things peak oil people say - such as the prediction that oil will get very expensive within the next five years - but not because it's in short supply, instead because it's production and supply is being deliberately held back to raise prices - the whole concept of "peak oil" is designed to raise prices and profits.
In some cases I don't exactly like some of the company I find myself in agreement with expressing this opinion. I used to own a bicycle shop, and I do think it would be a very good thing if people drove cars less, but as with global warming, spinning a load of lies for the perceived good of the planet or humanity is really no different to spinning a load of lies to increase the profits of Exxon Mobil or Al Gore. Bollocks is bollocks.
So I ended up posting a page about peak oil on my website. It goes into Russian and Korean oil production, the myth of oil being a fossil fuel, US government policies to discourage fuel efficient cars, and a few other things.
