What Happens When the Oil Runs Out?

Princeton professor Kenneth S. Deffeyes has a provocative op-ed in today's New York Times in which he asks, point blank, "What happens when the oil runs out?" It's a good question - and one too many Washington, D.C. politicians are unwilling to address. In 2003, for instance, the Senate rejected bipartisan legislation to raise fuel efficiency standards in cars - the machines that account for the highest use of petroleum in America. Instead, they recently voted to allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). This was clearly an environmentally questionable move (and oil companies are trying to make the most of it - they are actually trying to now avoid even doing an environmental impact study of the consequences of drilling there). But equally as disturbing, drilling in ANWR won't address the America's real energy problems.

As Deffeyes notes, "The controversy over the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a side issue" energy-wise. "The problem we need to face is the impending world oil shortage." (Deffeyes has a new book out on the subject called "Beyond Oil: The View from Hubbert's Peak")

Up here in Montana, some forward-thinking Republican and Democratic lawmakers are pushing measures to increase ethanol and wind energy production. And the opposition from entrenched energy industry interests is intense. But Gov. Schweitzer is putting the full force of his office behind the efforts, as he knows it is both important for America's long-term energy challenges, and for his state's rural economy. More Democrats should take a look at the issue - it is a way to tie environmentalism (cleaner fuels), conservationism (using less scarce petroleum), patriotism (getting America off foreign oil), and rural interests (building the rural economy) all together in one issue.