To The Editor,
On Saturday, Jan. 6, the Second Annual Indiana Energy Conference will be held right here in our community of Crawfordsville. Last year's conference garnered a lot of media attention for our community and brought large groups of participants to our beautiful downtown every Saturday in January. This year is expected to do much the same and I am strongly encouraging everyone to take advantage of this free event.
The purpose of the Indiana Energy Conference is to bring people together to raise awareness and discuss our culture's systemic dependence on oil, and how the forthcoming reduction in global oil extraction will affect our community. This is the most critical discussion of our time.
We have all heard about global climate change, or Global Warming. But how many people are familiar with the other inconvenient truth: Peak Oil? Peak Oil is when the extraction rate of petroleum from our Earth reaches it's maximum and thus can no longer meet the ever-increasing energy demands of our lives and our economy (consumption rate). Current global extraction of oil is at 85 million barrels per day (mbpd). The petroleum scientists agree that the maximum global extraction that is possible today is somewhere around 105 mbpd. If our annual global demand for petroleum is adding the need for an additional 6 mbpd, you can see that we are running into a serious problem.
In the United States, we hit our peak in 1970. The U.K hit their peak in 1999. Norway reached its peak in 2001. Currently, 33 of the 48 oil-producing nations are past their production peak. Globally, the current expert opinions bring our peak year within the next decade. This does not mean we are running out of oil. Running out isn't the problem. Getting it out of the ground cheaply, and at a rate that exceeds demand is the problem.
Why does this matter? It's the economy. Our modern industrial way of life is based on growth capitalism and, for the most part, the accessibility of inexpensive oil. This growth is based on having a sustained and abundant supply of a resource that is not renewable. Without a sustained and abundant supply of oil we have no growth, period. This goes way beyond paying more at the pumps. Virtually everything we do, from transportation to agriculture to technology, relies on petroleum products. We will be forced to reduce our consumption whether we like it or not.
One of the missions of this year's conference is to educate our community on a policy initiative known as the Oil Depletion Protocol (www.oildepletionprotocol.org). A personal invitation letter was sent to all elected officials in Montgomery County that encouraged their participation in the conference and most importantly, introduced them to the Oil Depletion Protocol. The Oil Depletion Protocol is a policy tool that can be used by municipal leaders, and other leaders around the world, to gradually reduce our dependence on oil before it is forced upon us. It is absolutely essential that we begin now to gradually wean ourselves off of oil, and the protocol allows us to do just this. The protocol calls for communities to reduce their consumption of oil by 2.5 percent per year. If this were to be adopted, global consumption of oil would decline gradually and predictably, thus stabilizing prices, preserving the resource base, and reducing competition for remaining supplies. A peti tion will be available for conference participants to sign in order to help bring this policy solution to the table with our municipal leaders.
It is imperative that everyone views the facts of Peak Oil and what they can do to prepare for living in a post oil world. The Indiana Energy Conference is a chance to do just that. It is being offered completely free of charge to anyone who wants to participate. I highly encourage everyone to look at the Web site www.indianaenergyconference.org for more details, and I hope to see you on Saturday.
JOHN M. EASTON
Rural Montgomery County
