Peak Oil: The Military Seems Concerned … Just Sayin’ – Peak Oil Matters

Peak Oil: The Military Seems Concerned … Just Sayin’ – Peak Oil Matters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An observation worth noting … and pondering, from Dr. Nafeez Ahmed (quoting Lieutenant Colonel Daniel L. Davis):

‘A lot of high-ranking officials are starting to ask exactly these hard questions about the sustainability of the current energy system. You’ve got to remember that for the military, it doesn’t matter what you want to do. What matters is what you can do, and it’s our top priority to make sure we understand potential limits to our operational capability. Even the EIA is forecasting that we could see a peak of shale production by 2018 followed by a plateau and decline, and the Pentagon knows this. But our transport infrastructure is totally dependent on liquid fuels. How are we going to sustain that infrastructure with these decline rates? That’s why serious questions are being asked by high level US military officials as to what exactly the Army, as well as American society in general, is going to do to address this challenge.’

Is this a problem? If it is, thank goodness it will only affect the military and not the rest of us!

The military may be worried about how to transport all of its equipment and fuel along with its broad array of weaponry systems, but here in the general population, we have our transportation concerns pretty much under control. Visionary leaders in both government and industry working hard each and every day to provide citizens with all the information they’ll need to properly adapt to the energy challenges our military leaders are concerned with, and plans are this very moment taking shape to allow us all to seamlessly transition away from fossil fuel dependency and its assortment of costs and risks. Better still, industry leaders aware of those impending difficulties are plowing profits into every feasible research project designed to maximize alternative energy supplies.

So that’s what’s it’s like to spin a fact-free, feel-good story! That can be addicting for anyone who benefits from withholding information at the expense of so many others.

Three years ago, I wrote about this issue [here].

In that piece, I cited these observations:

The impact of peak oil on markets, lifestyles, and even national solvency deserves our very highest attention – but, it turns out, some important players seem to be paying no attention at all. [Chris Martenson] [1]
What Chris suspected, and as was confirmed in a presentation (by Rick Munroe) cited in his article, is that while our military (among other nations’) is definitely concerned about Peak Oil and its impact on the operations and responsibilities it’s currently charged with and will likely face in years to come, nothing is being done at the national political level. (Munroe himself, in another article, offered this: ‘This author has yet to encounter a study conducted by a military analyst which dismisses peak oil as an implausible, alarmist issue.’) There are no governmental departments and no bureaucrats who’ve been assigned the task of figuring out anything about what we should do. 
Acknowledging as have others that electoral politics hampers our officials from dealing with long-range planning and problems, Martenson added:
‘So I came away from the ASPO conference pondering two completely polar trends that combined to create a lasting discomfort. On the one hand we have more and more private and military organizations coming to the conclusion that peak oil is imminent and will change everything, possibly disruptively. On the other hand there appear to be no plans within the civilian government to deal with a liquid fuels emergency.’

More than a bit disappointing that not much has changed. Maybe it’s just me, but starting to plan after the big problems make their presence felt seems not the wisest choice.

~ My Photo: Newport Beach, CA – 02.16.14