are we in the dark (literally) about oil depletion?

LOL! :haha: I know it won't solve all the problems, but it's a start. And those are only a few examples of what is being explored.

What would be your solution?

What would be your solution?

There isn't any solution to oil depletion. One day it'll all be gone.

True.
So we should just...do nothing?

1) A great site about alternative energy production, which addresses the problem of making the windmills, panels, etc. without industrial production, is www.otherpower.com
Hope that comes through as a link. The folks at otherpower make their own stuff. If oil disappears, there will be plenty of cars lying around for handy people to salvage the alternators from, rewire them for lower RPM, and if you can't make some kind of wind/hydro turbine out of found junk you're just not trying. Batteries are a problem, but don't forget that power doesn't have to be stored to be used. Without batteries electric power would be limited by numerous factors, but limited is better than nonexistant.

2) Personally I agree that ANWR shouldn't be drilled, but just to correct some misconceptions...it isn't pristine, drilling/exploration wouldn't hurt the caribou population any more than the existing pipeline has (not at all), and the chances that drilling would be very profitable to Alaskans are minimal. The oil companies always bring in the vast majority of their employees from Outside.
As far as buying a better brand of beer, most of the villages around the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge are dry, and alcoholism is a serious serious problem for Natives- so a different quip regarding use of potential income would be wittier and less offensive. The very minimal local hire would be Native Preference, so a statement like that comes across as unbelievably insulting even if it's not intended to be.

Just my two cents.

I certainly did not mean to insult anyone with my beer comment. I based it on my 6 months experience in Alaska - every home or place I entered someone seemed to offer me a can of beer and then apologize that they couldn't offer me something better. I guess I wasn't in any of the dry areas. It was never the Native Americans handing me a can, but rather the white male population.

True.
So we should just...do nothing?


We probably should do everything we can on a personal level to prepare for $5-$10 gas and possibly no gas at all. But I wouldn't want to depend on a government bent on waging an oil war to bail us all out.

On the other hand, according to another post, perhaps I've been venting for nothing. Appears that mother earth can just manufacture crude on a daily basis, according to a Dr. Gold, like so many tootsie rolls blurping out of a magic underground candy factory.

Maybe I won't have to sell my little duece coupe after all!

We could also do a lot better as far as recycling and packaging things in the first place. Less packaging means more items can travel in the same truck or on the train, saving money. Rural America lags when it comes to recycling, and it's too bad.

What is synthetic oil made from--could everyone switch to that for oil changes?