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U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

blogs.marketwatch.com

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Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#51

Post by wahsd »

joshuahedlund wrote: post #19

Commenters bemoaning US running out of resources sooner or ruining the environment by increasing usage should note that US oil demand has essentially peaked[1] and will likely drop in the coming years due to a variety of factors including demographics and the increasing viability of alternative energy sources (solar power + Tesla et. al.) In this context, the US gas/oil energy boom is a wonderful thing, a last hurrah…

Sorry, but as much as I want them to succeed too, the "alternative" energies just do not have the capacity to replace the "traditional" fuels. The problem with America is that we have a problem with glut and self-destructive greed, which is why all of our "green" efforts are nothing but window-dressing, facade, and self-delusion while be destroy and consume our way into disaster. There is never any real sacrifice or pain (which comes from withdrawing from pernicious and bad things that feel so good in the short term), especially in things that would actually make a difference.

Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#52

Post by nsxwolf »

wahsd wrote: post #51
joshuahedlund wrote: post #19

Commenters bemoaning US running out of resources sooner or ruining the environment by increasing usage should note that US oil demand has essentially peaked[1] and will likely drop in the coming years due to a variety of factors including demographics and the increasing viability of alternative energy sources (solar power + Tesla et. al.) In this context, the US gas/oil energy boom is a wonderful thing, a last hurrah…

Sorry, but as much as I want them to succeed too, the "alternative" energies just do not have the capacity to replace the "traditional" fuels. The problem with America is that we have a problem with glut and self-destructive greed, which is why all of our "green" efforts are nothing but window-dressing, facade, and self-delusion while be destroy and consume our way into disaster. There is never any real sacrifice or…

Sorry, I am not into sacrifice and pain. Please continue developing energy technologies so that I can live in a house with lights and running water, and have a car that can get me and my family around.

Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#53

Post by dnissley »

joshuahedlund wrote: post #19

Commenters bemoaning US running out of resources sooner or ruining the environment by increasing usage should note that US oil demand has essentially peaked[1] and will likely drop in the coming years due to a variety of factors including demographics and the increasing viability of alternative energy sources (solar power + Tesla et. al.) In this context, the US gas/oil energy boom is a wonderful thing, a last hurrah…

Here's a good article[1] on why US oil consumption has declined in recent years.

Basically: Improved vehicle MPG, flat/decreasing VMT [2], decreasing non-highway use of distillate [3], improved industrial efficiency, and a shrinking industrial sector.

[1] - http://www.theoildrum.com/node/9811

[2] - Vehicle Miles Traveled

[3] - http://www.eia.gov/oog/info/twip/twiparch/2013/130227/twippr...

Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#54

Post by marknutter »

mikeash wrote: post #45
marknutter wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's more likely? That we'll convince people to cut their energy consumption in half, or convince people to purchase higher efficiency equipment and slowly move over to cleaner forms of energy as they become available? What's needed in the climate debate is a healthy dose of pragmatism.

What do you do when "pragmatism" doesn't produce the results you need? Maybe convincing people to cut their energy consumption in half isn't in the cards. At the same time, maybe that is what is needed. The universe doesn't have to cooperate to give us pragmatic solutions. If the "impossible" solution is required, and the "pragmatic" solution isn't sufficient... why should climate scientists advocate for the latter o…

Why wouldn't pragmatism produce the results needed? Moving over to Nuclear Power would, without a doubt, solve the climate crisis. Granted, it would introduce other challenges, but we're talking about the lesser of two evils here.

Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#55

Post by Xeoncross »

llamataboot wrote: post #22
joshuahedlund wrote: post #19

Commenters bemoaning US running out of resources sooner or ruining the environment by increasing usage should note that US oil demand has essentially peaked[1] and will likely drop in the coming years due to a variety of factors including demographics and the increasing viability of alternative energy sources (solar power + Tesla et. al.) In this context, the US gas/oil energy boom is a wonderful thing, a last hurrah…

Nearly every prominent climate scientist disagrees strongly with you, and sees the current move towards fracking as climate suicide.

Source? I keep hearing this - but only see a small sampling of papers from the large scientific community.

Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#56

Post by [deleted] »

foobarbazqux wrote: post #29
hannibal5 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we want to limit climate change to +2°C, we must leave 80% of hydrocarbons into the ground. This option is not showing in the prices of energy companies. It's just not going to happen.

On the bright side, forecasters that rely on computer models of massive systems often end up making horribly inaccurate predictions. For example, we usually get tomorrow's weather wrong.

[deleted]

Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#57

Post by mikeash »

marknutter wrote: post #54
mikeash wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you do when "pragmatism" doesn't produce the results you need? Maybe convincing people to cut their energy consumption in half isn't in the cards. At the same time, maybe that is what is needed. The universe doesn't have to cooperate to give us pragmatic solutions. If the "impossible" solution is required, and the "pragmatic" solution isn't sufficient... why should climate scientists advocate for the latter o…

Why wouldn't pragmatism produce the results needed? Moving over to Nuclear Power would, without a doubt, solve the climate crisis. Granted, it would introduce other challenges, but we're talking about the lesser of two evils here.

I don't think a rapid wholesale move to nuclear power is any more pragmatic than a rapid move to cut average per capita energy consumption in half.

Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#58

Post by 3pt14159 »

coherentpony wrote: post #35
silverlight wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sure you have them, but since the parent commenter was nice enough to supply sources for his claims, perhaps you could as well?

http://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar5/wg1/#.UknaKlN7WMc

I wasn't able to find anything in there that is specifically about fracking.

Re: U.S. is now the world’s biggest oil and gas producer

#59

Post by Shivetya »

wahsd wrote: post #51
joshuahedlund wrote: post #19

Commenters bemoaning US running out of resources sooner or ruining the environment by increasing usage should note that US oil demand has essentially peaked[1] and will likely drop in the coming years due to a variety of factors including demographics and the increasing viability of alternative energy sources (solar power + Tesla et. al.) In this context, the US gas/oil energy boom is a wonderful thing, a last hurrah…

Sorry, but as much as I want them to succeed too, the "alternative" energies just do not have the capacity to replace the "traditional" fuels. The problem with America is that we have a problem with glut and self-destructive greed, which is why all of our "green" efforts are nothing but window-dressing, facade, and self-delusion while be destroy and consume our way into disaster. There is never any real sacrifice or…

may I ask whom you think is taking the lead in this area? Surely some country must meet this criteria?

What kind of sacrifice or pain? What steps have you done that constitute sacrifice and pain as part of your contribution? Yeah, being trite here, but I rarely find those professing a need for others to give up rarely do so themselves, they have endless levels of justification, usually starting with how smart they are.

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