(Posted by John)
The concern about Peak Oil has been subjected to a lot of criticism lately, as the recent decline in oil prices, combined with the announcements of major oil finds in the Gulf of Mexico have given a lot of yaysayers plenty of ammo.
There's reason to be skeptical of both factors, however: Even with it's recent "decline", the price of oil - still hovering in the $60 range - is twice as expensive as what was considered dangerously destabilizing less than a decade ago. (The Clinton administration frequently chided OPEC members whenever oil rose above $25.) Moreover, The Oil Drum wrote an excellent refutation of the idea that Gulf oil was going to save the day.
Less-noticed, but far more immediate than the worry of peak oil, is the problems facing North American natural gas production.
