Peak Oil -- A coming economic crisis or boom ~ critical assumption

First of all, let state I am neither an expert on this issue or an economist. That being said, it is easy to imagine the mass affects of continuing our dependence on Oil as means to drive any type of economic growth in the future. After reading two article in Seeking Alpha (1) "An Energy Policy that Makes Sense (and Cents)" and (2) "Oil, Iraq and US Foreign Policy: A Way Forward" both authored by Micheal Fitzsimmons, I have come to the belief that this country is in serious trouble (or on the flip side, there is great opportunity).

So what am I talking about? Peak Oil - the definition below comes from Wikipedia....

Peak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum production is reached, after which the rate of production enters its terminal decline. If global consumption is not mitigated before the peak, an energy crisis may develop because the availability of conventional oil will drop and prices will rise, perhaps dramatically. M. King Hubbert first used the theory in 1956 to accurately predict that United States oil production would peak between 1965 and 1970. His model, now called Hubbert peak theory, has since been used to predict the peak petroleum production of many other countries, and has also proved useful in other limited-resource production-domains. According to the Hubbert model, the production rate of a limited resource will follow a roughly symmetrical bell-shaped curve based on the limits of exploitability and market pressures.

It that doesn't sound boring enough - here's the 2nd grader explanation of Peak Oil -- It means the price of oil will go much higher (if you think the 300% increase for a barrel of oil over the past three years is huge -- just wait. Paying $3 for a gallon a gas may seem like a bargain in 2015).

For anyone that hasn't been listening to the news or watching their 401K tank over the past few months, here's where it get really interesting. At the point Peak Oil happens, it's really too late for the US to do much about it. Our economy is really big thing - and it takes time to change direction or affect any type of change. It may already be too late - but if we don't start acting like there's a big problem, things will only get worst.

We have to start doing stuff today - the US Government has to recognize that we have a problem today. State and Local governments need to understand we have a problem today. Big companies need to understand we have a problem today. Every citizen needs to understand we have a big problem today. Educate yourself about this problem. Educate yourself about alternative energy (because by 2015, it may move being to alternative to being normal). Quit thinking all this "green" stuff is just a marketing ploy (which it is). Quit looking at the "ecology" as a tree hugging thing, and understand it is a "reality" thing.

Global Warming is big issue -- but Peak Oil is a bigger issue. And by helping with the coming Peak Oil problem, it may just have a side affect of helping with Global Warming.

OK -- now I want to talk about the opportunity here (since I completely depressed everyone with the doom and gloom story)...
1. Every time there is confusion and chaos, there is opportunity (it's a law of nature)
2. Anyone can take advantage of this coming opportunity - this new economy (the one after Oil) will need sales people, marketing expertise, operations professionals, technical whiz kids, people to take/ship/deliver products -- and there will be plenty of opportunity out there
3. You can only take advantage of opportunity if you are educated about what to look for -- so educate yourself

Just understand that OIL is used in almost every facet of our lives. OIL is going to get very expensive. Meaning, most things in our lives will start to get expensive. For those "inventors" out there, start thinking of alternative "materials" to use in these products. Some materials were cost too much to use - but once the price of OIL gets to a certain point, that "reason" goes away. So start getting creative - think up those products. Figure out a way to not use OIL in the creation of these products - then go out and find people to help you sell, market, ship, deliver, whatever those products (many of which will be available because the high price of OIL helped them get an extended vacation from work - sad but true).

So, will it be painful when Peak Oil happens? Yes. Is it the end of the world? No. Will the human race continue? Yes. Will things change? Yes. Will some people still make money and be happy, while others are out of a job and wondering how to pay the bills? Yes. So the question is, which side will you fall on?