by James R. Udall, Steven B Andrews

“Pulling the Sword from the Stone�

A History of Hope

Buried beneath the ground, in Colorado and Utah, are a trillion tons of oil shale. Throughout the 20th century, men have tried and tried again to unlock the energy contained in these rocks. To date, all efforts have failed. But every twenty or thirty years, when energy prices spike, a new attempt is mounted. The persistence is understandable: whoever unlocks this resource would capture a trillion dollar prize. But oil shale’s track record is not encouraging. The rocks are stubborn, an illusive bonanza, promising much, delivering little. Despite a century of trying and $10 billion in investment, oil shale currently provides an infinitesimal 0.0001 (or one ten-thousandth) of world energy. This paper explains why oil shale is so difficult to unlock, and why the “rock that burns� may never provide more than one percent of U.S. energy.

http://www.energybulletin.net/11707.html

Supporters of Free Market Look for Strong Government Regulation

Free_Markets_April08_img.jpgMajorities in most countries continue to support the free market system, but over the last two years support has eroded in 10 of 18 countries regularly polled by GlobeScan. In several countries this drop in support has been quite sharp.

http://worldpublicopinion.org/

Most people believe oil is running out and governments need to find another fuel, but Americans are alone in thinking their leaders are out of touch with reality on this issue, an international poll said.

On average, 70% of respondents in 15 countries and the Palestinian territories said they thought oil supplies had peaked. Only 22% of the nearly 15,000 respondents in nations ranging from China to Mexico believed enough new oil would be found to keep it a primary fuel source.

“What’s most striking is there’s such a widespread consensus around the world that oil is running out and governments need to make a real effort to find new sources of energy,” said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org, a global research organization that conducted the poll.

Concerns over climate change, which is spurred by emissions from fossil fuels including oil, also were a factor among respondents, Kull said.

The current tightening of the oil market is not temporary but will continue and the price of oil will rise substantially, most respondents said.

“They think it’s just going to keep going higher and a fundamental adaptation is necessary,” Kull said in a telephone interview.

In the United States, the world’s biggest oil consumer and among the biggest emitters of climate-warming pollution from fossil fuel use, 76% of respondents said oil is running out, but most believed the US government mistakenly assumes there would be enough to keep oil a main source of fuel.

US government ‘not facing reality’

“Americans perceive that the government is not facing reality,” Kull said.

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/411366/1729241

It shows Joe Public have more common sence than our economist wonks.

Maybe do a graph that includes the NZ$ xchange rate too.

@peterquixote: Pull out the MadMax tape….