The Long Emergency

What happens if the world runs out of oil? That is the question asked in the book I just finished called The Long Emergency: Surviving the End of Oil by James Howard Kunstler. He believes that we are near the end of a unique time in human history when nature provided a very cheap source of energy. We are coming to the end of oil.

The book was written two years ago when oil was $50 a barrel. I imagine now, at over $130 he is saying, "I told you so." If the law of supply and demand is correct, and price is determined by the amount of supply available to the amount of demand, my guess is that Kunstler is correct that we have indeed begun to run low on the amount of oil out there. We've already past our peak here in America and it seems that the Middle East has too. If this is the case, we have only just begun to see high gas prices.

So where does this leave us if Kunstler is right? Well, I plan on learning more about growing my own food. I plan on spending less and saving more. I plan on getting used to not eating animals or animal products because with out oil for fertilizer that is going to get very expensive. I'm going to read more on passive solar heating, maybe a greenhouse for winter veggies. Certainly a smaller car next time around. I think we should begin to think about simplifying our lives. Things are about to change.

Kunstler argues that we Americans don't worry about running out of oil because we expect someone to invent something when we need it, but he says that so far we aren't even close. It would be better to be prepared for hard times than to be taken by surprise. Since I like to have a holistic perspective on life I will keep what he says in mind. Maybe we will come up with some wonderful alternative to fossil fuel and maybe we won't. Actually, life wouldn't be so bad if we had to go back to the old ways of living. Living the good life, as Scott Nearing used to call it. I bet there would be a lot less need for therapists. We'd all be too busy growing our own food and trying to keep warm to get depressed about it.

Anyhow, the book is a good read, very interesting, and has proven to be a good prediction of the future. It can't hurt to be forewarned.