End of the Age of Oil: American Empire Finished

April 9, 2008

End of the world as we know it

You might feel fine, but high oil cost, scarcity mean American Empire is

about to come crashing down

Guy R. McPherson

University of Arizona professor

Apr. 6, 2008 12:00 AM

Peak oil spells the end of civilization. And, if it's not already too late,

perhaps it will prevent the extinction of our species.

M. King Hubbert, a petroleum geologist employed by Shell Oil Co., described

peak oil in 1956. Production of crude oil, like the production of many

non-renewable resources, follows a bell-shaped curve. The top of the curve

is termed "peak oil," or "Hubbert's peak," and it represents the halfway

point for production.

The bell-shaped curve applies at all levels, from field to country to

planet. After discovery, production ramps up relatively quickly. But when

the light, sweet crude on top of the field runs out, increased energy and

expense are required to extract the underlying heavy, sour crude. At some

point, the energy required to extract a barrel of oil exceeds the energy

contained in barrel of oil, so the pumps shut down. advertisement

Most of the world's oil pumps are about to shut down.

We have sufficient supply to keep the world running for 30 years or so, at

the current level of demand. But that's irrelevant because the days of

inexpensive oil are behind us. And the American Empire absolutely demands

cheap oil. Never mind the 3,000-mile Caesar salad to which we've become

accustomed. Cheap oil forms the basis for the 12,000-mile supply chain

underlying the "just-in-time" delivery of plastic toys from China.

There goes next year's iPod.

In 1956, Hubbert predicted the continental United States would peak in 1970.

He was correct, and the 1970s gave us a small, temporary taste of the

sociopolitical and economic consequences of expensive oil.

We passed the world oil peak in 2005, and we've been easing down the other

side by acquiring oil at the point of a gun - actually, guns are the

smallest of the many weapons we're using - paying more for oil and

destroying one culture after another as the high price of crude oil forces

supply disruptions and power outages in Third World countries.

The world peaked at 74.3 million barrels per day in May 2005. The two-year

decline to 73.2 million barrels per day produced a doubling of the price of

crude. Later this year, we fall off the oil-supply cliff, with global supply

plummeting below 70 million barrels/day. Oil at merely $100 per barrel will

seem like the good old days.

Within a decade, we'll be staring down the barrel of a crisis: Oil at $400

per barrel brings down the American Empire, the project of globalization and

water coming through the taps. Never mind happy motoring through the

never-ending suburbs in the Valley of the Sun. In a decade, unemployment

will be approaching 100 percent, inflation will be running at 1,000 percent

and central heating will be a pipe dream.

In short, this country will be well on its way to the post-industrial Stone

Age.

After all, no alternative energy sources scale up to the level of a few

million people, much less the 6.5 billion who currently occupy Earth. Oil is

necessary to extract and deliver coal and natural gas. Oil is needed to

produce solar panels and wind turbines, and to maintain the electrical grid.

Ninety percent of the oil consumed in this country is burned by airplanes,

ships, trains and automobiles. You can kiss goodbye groceries at the local

big-box grocery store: Our entire system of food production and delivery

depends on cheap oil.

If you're alive in a decade, it will be because you've figured out how to

forage locally.

The death and suffering will be unimaginable. We have come to depend on

cheap oil for the delivery of food, water, shelter and medicine. Most of us

are incapable of supplying these four key elements of personal survival, so

trouble lies ahead when we are forced to develop means of acquiring them

that don't involve a quick trip to Wal-Mart.

On the other hand, the forthcoming cessation of economic growth is truly

good news for the world's species and cultures. In addition, the abrupt halt

of fossil-fuel consumption may slow the warming of our planetary home,

thereby preventing our extinction at our own hand.

Our individual survival, and our common future, depends on our ability to

quickly make other arrangements. We can view this as a personal challenge,

or we can take the Hemingway out. The choice is ours.

For individuals interested in making other arrangements, it's time to start

acquiring myriad requisite skills. It is far too late to save civilization

for 300 million Americans, much less the rest of the planet's citizens, but

we can take joy in a purpose-filled, intimate life.

It's time to push away from the shore, to let the winds of change catch the

sails of our leaky boat.

It's time to trust in ourselves, our neighbors and the Earth that sustains

us all.

Painful though it might be, it's time to abandon the cruise ship of empire

in exchange for a lifeboat.

Guy R. McPherson is a professor of conservation biology at the University of

Arizona.

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/viewpoints/articles/0406vip-mcpherson0406.html

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike Ruppert On Peak Oil

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1344460573920722313

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM3UOwgYBBg

Crossing The Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the

Age of Oil

http://www.amazon.com/Crossing-Rubicon-Decline-American-Empire/dp/0865715408

Posted from http://www.teranews.com

April 9, 2008

On Wed, 09 Apr 2008, http://www.freedomtofascism.com <truth@r.us> wrote:

>End of the world as we know it

>You might feel fine, but high oil cost, scarcity mean American Empire is

>about to come crashing down

>Guy R. McPherson

>University of Arizona professor

>Apr. 6, 2008 12:00 AM <snips>

>Peak oil spells the end of civilization. And, if it's not already too late,

>perhaps it will prevent the extinction of our species.

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

I've been hoping and praying war escalates in the Middle-East,

thereby forcing oil to top ~$400/bbl. As the Spartans gloated

in the 2007 film '300', "It's a good start." $30/gal gasoline

and $40/gal diesel fuel would help the U.S. economy very much.

Hopefully the new Ben Stein hosted documentary that is set to

open in approximately 1,000 theatres nationwide on April 18th,

'EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed' will serve to incite more

fervent bellicosity, vitriol and rancor against the hard-line

Anti-Christian Atheist U.S. Government. Every little bit helps.

Meanwhile, we can take great solace that millions of Atheists

nationwide are losing their cushy jobs, their luxurious homes,

their luxury cars, and for many their families, and countries.

Their Atheist public schools are in tatters, and the drop-out

rate is escalating. Let us pray it gets worse, and worse, err,

I should say better and better, hence nuclear, and biological,

God's little soldiers doing God's work, thus leaving only God

to decide who will survive the great tribulation unto the end

of the world. Perfectly eleutherian, decisive, just, and fair...

Armageddon Cometh,

Daniel Joseph Min

http://www.angelfire.com/moon2/danieljosephmin/

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April 9, 2008

On Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:52:52 +0200, Anonymous Remailer

<Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote:

>On Wed, 09 Apr 2008, http://www.freedomtofascism.com <truth@r.us> wrote:

>>End of the world as we know it

>>You might feel fine, but high oil cost, scarcity mean American Empire is

>>about to come crashing down

>>Guy R. McPherson

>>University of Arizona professor

>>Apr. 6, 2008 12:00 AM <snips>

>>Peak oil spells the end of civilization. And, if it's not already too late,

>>perhaps it will prevent the extinction of our species.

>

>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

>

>I've been hoping and praying war escalates in the Middle-East,

>thereby forcing oil to top ~$400/bbl. As the Spartans gloated

>in the 2007 film '300', "It's a good start." $30/gal gasoline

>and $40/gal diesel fuel would help the U.S. economy very much.

The only reason there's a war in the middle east is because the

Federal Reserve relies on Americans being oil gluttons so they

can prop up their fiat currency by keeping it as the currency

of trade for oil.

That's coming to quick end, as everyone knows. The Federal Reserve could

have solved the 'energy crisis' by planning for the end of the oil age. In

stead they decided to go out in a blaze of greed and perversion, hoping

they'd all be gone before the public dragged them into the streets and

hanged them for perpetrating crimes against humanity.

>Hopefully the new Ben Stein hosted documentary that is set to

>open in approximately 1,000 theatres nationwide on April 18th,

>'EXPELLED: No Intelligence Allowed' will serve to incite more

>fervent bellicosity, vitriol and rancor against the hard-line

>Anti-Christian Atheist U.S. Government. Every little bit helps.

This has nothing to do with some wacky Christian religion based in myth.

>Meanwhile, we can take great solace that millions of Atheists

>nationwide are losing their cushy jobs, their luxurious homes,

>their luxury cars, and for many their families, and countries.

>Their Atheist public schools are in tatters, and the drop-out

>rate is escalating. Let us pray it gets worse, and worse, err,

>I should say better and better, hence nuclear, and biological,

>God's little soldiers doing God's work, thus leaving only God

>to decide who will survive the great tribulation unto the end

>of the world. Perfectly eleutherian, decisive, just, and fair...

Every religion loses. It has NOTHING to do with religion.

It has to do with denial and failure to plan for the future to assure

the continuance of the human race.

Everyone in the USA lives like there's no tomorrow. And the people who

wanted it this way have no Plan B.

It's everyone for themselves. It won't take much to convert the entire

North American continent and Europe to the dark ages.

I repeat -- there is no Plan B.

>

>Armageddon Cometh,

You'll lose your atmosphere and you home planet -- no one is coming to

rescue you.

Posted from http://www.teranews.com

April 9, 2008

U.S. Says It Will Increase Efforts Against

April 10, 2008

On Wed, 09 Apr 2008, http://www.freedomtofascism.com <truth@r.us> wrote:

>><snipped for clarity>

>

>I repeat -- there is no Plan B.

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That much is true because the reality is that there is only

Armageddon unto the end of the world. It won't be cinematic.

Armageddon Cometh,

Daniel Joseph Min

http://www.angelfire.com/moon2/danieljosephmin/

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April 10, 2008

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:03:46 +0200, Anonymous Remailer

<Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote:

>On Wed, 09 Apr 2008, http://www.freedomtofascism.com <truth@r.us> wrote:

>>><snipped for clarity>

>>

>>I repeat -- there is no Plan B.

>

>-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

>

>That much is true because the reality is that there is only

>Armageddon unto the end of the world. It won't be cinematic.

The word armageddon by definition implies "not the end", where as the word

'end' by definition means 'cease to exist'.

So, like, make up your goddamned mind --it's one or the other and can not be

both.

Armageddon

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/armageddon

Main Entry: Ar

April 10, 2008

On Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:03:46 +0200, Anonymous Remailer

<Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote:

>Armageddon Cometh,

By definition, armageddon already happened -- the Zionist-controlled

government went to war with the American people and the American people

lost. What you're witnessing right now is the end -- the end of America --

it is in the process of ceasing to exist.

The parasitic 'government' (aka the Zionist bankers al la The Federal

Reserve) will cease to exist with the end of America.

Amen.

Posted from http://www.teranews.com

April 10, 2008

http://www.nwtrcc.org/taxday2008.htm

Stay the Course

April 10, 2008