Ryan-- this is really important. I really would like to learn more on this. Are there any good studies or academic papers anyone knows about? This could be the defining point for our generation.

This is an issue I've tracked for a couple of years. The voices are growing. It's kind of like when one person says something contrary to popular opinion, you just laugh it off. Then more people start saying, "Hmm, well you know they might be on to something," Those that choose to ignore it will plug their ears as the voices grow.

The truth is, we are going to run out of cheap fossil fuels in our lifetimes. Our way of life is going to change dramatically very soon, within decades. Once oil production peaks, it's all downhill, literally, as we ride the downslope of the bell curve.

This page has a really good collection of starting points and quotes. I'm reading one of the books that is quoted here, "The Party's Over." It's doesn't paint a pretty picture of things to come.

Understanding how oil production affects what we have all come to accept as our way of industrial life, it underscores every war we are going to be fighting in the Middle East from here on out.

I'm curious to know, how many of you think this is even an issue? Is the talk of "peak oil" just Bravo Sierra or is it prophecy? It makes sense to me. I'm not in the camp that thinks it is just going to work itself out, not without readjusting to pre-industrial population size.

Observations and the State of Affairs - Peak Oil