Reply #33: Charles Hugh Smith: Everywhere I Look, I See Cheap Oil

[DemReadingDU]

5/12/10 Everywhere I Look, I See Cheap Oil
Charles Hugh Smith

The foundation of the American lifestyle and economy is cheap oil. Remove that prop and every aspect of that lifestyle becomes questionable.

Not to sound too cinematic, but everywhere I look, I see cheap oil. The results, of cheap oil, actually; or more precisely, a complete and total dependence on cheap, abundant oil.

When I see expansive, well-manicured lawns, I see cheap oil.

When I see busy airports and taxiing aircraft, I see cheap oil.

When I see news about the latest "surge" in Afghanistan, I see cheap oil.

When I see goods from China on sale for less than a dollar, I see cheap oil.

When I see branded water in plastic bottles, I see cheap oil.

When I see inexpensive meat in supermarket coolers, I see cheap oil.

When I walk through aisles of frozen food, I see cheap oil.

When I see vast swaths of America dotted with rural mini-estates, I see cheap oil.

When I see the "free" Internet, I see cheap oil.

When I see retirees walking their dogs, I see cheap oil. (Ultimately, all pensions are based on cheap oil.)

When I see bakeries which sell only dog treats, I see cheap oil.

When I see jammed freeways, I see cheap oil.

When I feel air conditioning in desert cities, I see cheap oil.

When I see new fiberglas boats with large inboard engines, I see cheap oil.

When I see boxes of "free clothing" set on the curb, I see cheap oil.

When I read about vast bureaucracies dedicated to regulating complex industries, I see cheap oil.

When I see a new iPad, I see cheap oil.

When I meet an enthusaistic young person who is jetting to a distant land to work for an NGO (non-governmental organization), I see cheap oil.

When I see auto rentals, I see cheap oil.

When I see college graduates applying to graduate school, I see cheap oil.

When I see electric bicycles, I see cheap oil.

When I see a Prius, I see cheap oil. (Mining and processing all that lithium into complex batteries requires a lot of energy.)

When I see well-dressed people filing into a corporate meeting, I see cheap oil.

When I see imported furniture, I see cheap oil (and clear-cut native forests).

When I see adverts for cosmetic surgery, I see cheap oil.

When I see a stadium full of sports fans, I see cheap oil.

Virtually all of the things which characterize the "American way of life" are utterly and completely dependent on cheap oil, cheap coal, cheap natural gas and cheap uranium (as long as the waste products of which can be "cheaply" stored).

Once liquid petroleum is no longer abundant and cheap, the "American way of life" will change in ways that few seem to anticipate.

more...
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogmay10/cheap-oil05-10.html


and gazillions of cheap oil is leaking in the Gulf
:(