Robert Hirsch has done more for the awareness of peak oil than anyone else. 

He was a credible source in a position of authority.  It's too bad that they decided to stifle his voice, but it's out there. 

I don't think the US government can do much about the problem now.  Any way you look at it there will be a lot of pain.  We are so fossil fuel dependent that any change will be a catastrophe.  Nobody is getting out of their gas cars.  Those of us who drive EV's know that another transportation system is possible, but the majority can't understand it. 

We only have a couple of years more of business as usual, if we're lucky. 

Then it gets nasty. 

It is so hard to figure out what will actually wake people up to the fact that we need some rapid and major changes made to our economic and transportation policies and our mode of interacting with other humans and our Earth. I guess we can only wait for the worst, see who survives and rebuild a new global society from the remaining ashes. How depressing!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901143317.htm

The rapid advance of alternative energy technologies seems the only hope for mitigating the peak oil problem. The above is one such and may rapidly mature; but  a large number of hydrogen storage solutions are under similar development.. Solar/fossil fuel combination plants are another, (China already seems to be forging ahead of the rest of the world in this area) laser fusion, thin solar cells printed on aluminum foil, vertical farms in urban settings, etc. are developments to watch. One more oil scare will put politics on hold as there can be no divisive committments in survival.  What will then be required will be obvious to all; the national push to energy independence which will invoke Kennedy's moonshot end of the decade pledge as it's previous example. Government by crisis is the product of our present democratic formulation and only a great idea can forge a unity in purpose and vision.

After three years of near-panic looking for a way to quickly mass-produce a viable alternative, the only method I've been able to construct involves solar balloons using thin-film photovoltaics, conductive tethers and the 90 billion cubic feet of helium that is lost forever in the processing of natural gas in the US every year. Fields of balloon arrrays would not only produce cheap renewable energy but when placed in desert regions would act as reflectors of Heat from the heat-sink our planet has become. Of course, an over-the-horizon coast-to-coast grid would alleviate much of the need to store solar power overnight. The big trouble is trying to find an ear for a good idea, especially when no-one wants to hear there's a problem to begin with.

Another guy who probably rides to work in a limo, cab, or on light rail, subway, etc. Is not as affected by fuels-cost as the grunt worker who gasses up daily and drives 40-100 miles one-way to work [can't afford to move--doesn't dare move cuz job cud end]. It is time that we declare that petroleum is a strategic substance--not an ordinary, speculative 'commodity' which is jacked up-n-dn and gambled-with. We shud get as many drivers as possible into battery electric vehicles [BEV]. Those who must have fuelled vehicles shud convert to CNG, ethanol, or bio-fueloil--plus HHO [Hydroxy gas]. There shud be small, regional fuel-distilleries/bio-oil refineries--all solar powered as much as possible. Like The War [WW II] we shud have fixed prices on all fuels and only buy 'mid-fractions' [the good stuff in the middle] from OPEC and other producers for $50 a 'Drum' [200Liters/52.91 US Gal.] Not a penny more! The wasteful advertizing and marketing of fuels shud end [like tobacco products!] If people need fuel they know where to get it--most fuels are NOT what's on the sign or pump anyway!  For about $1.20-$1.50 a gallon [actually shud be sold in metric measures], we can give the station ten cents [five if a non-profit co-op] and close down any unnecessary stations [like limiting the number of liquor stores and bars] as too many just waste our money and waste electric power [lookit all the lights blazing 24 hrs a day!]...In a few years, oil will become mostly a feedstock of some plastics and chemicals--and a lubricant!.. By then we shud be whirring around electrically or driving stingy algae-oil or cellulosic- ethanol [both, plus HHO!] chuggers...'Peak Oil' can join 'Clean Coal' and 'Fun-with-Fusion'!..Aaron Allen...

 Economic growth in China & India will have a geometric impact on worldwide oil consumption; there is no turning back: we need more oil discoveries and significant economies in consumption.  Fuel prices are significantly higher in Europe than in the USA, a consequence of which is that most vehicles are small and fuel efficient.  Our 2007 Citroen C4 diesel (approximately the same size as a Toyota Prius) gets the equivalent of 48 miles per gallon (highway); it has a very efficient automatic transmission (far different design than used in most US vehicles) and air conditioning.

One of the reasons politicians don't want to talk about peak oil is that it is not a new topic: these concerns have existed for many many years; politicians just keep hoping that new discoveries will be made (as has happened before) to assure supplies and avoid catastrophe.  There have been recent new discoveries - e.g., the giant offshore discovery in Brazil.  But all the "easy discoveries" have been made.  Future supplies will be very expensive to develop because of enormous depths.  Attempts to control oil prices will completely stop new exploration.  Bottom line:  USA can expect to pay more for gasoline in the future - maybe $4 or $5 per gallon (as we do in Europe).  There is simply no way to avoid it. 

Hirsch is simply telling the truth:  "I wish I could be optimistic and say that there is a magic wand of some sort, but if there is I don't know what it is."  He repeatedly says that he does not want to preach Armageddon but to find some middle road between that and fantasy optimism.

The fact is, there is no “middle road.”  ALL of the "solutions" one reads are little more than proposals which assume that all human beings act and react like middle-class, college-educated, mentally stable White Americans with a post-Christian, nicey-nice, liberal value system.  And these same solutions also invariably fail to take into consideration either the stupefying magnitude of the problem or its diabolical complexity.  Likewise, the proposers never take into consideration the evolution and history of the chief primate on this planet -- never mind the insidious deception invariably practiced by the political leadership of America throughout its history, especially its entry into wars.

The current economic recession is merely the first of the foothills to be encountered by a grossly overpopulating human species before it hits the mountain range of Peak Oil, Peak Gas, Peak Coal and Peak Rare Earths (to mention just a few).  The "solution" to these limiting factors will not be ours to make.  It will be that of Nature.

Mr. Hirsch is to be warmly commended not only for his intelligence, his dedication and hard work of many years, but above all for his steadfast, level-headed courage in trying to present reality to people who prefer fairy tales.

Theedrich Yeat

The way to creep towards a change in oil consumption is to first make the change yourself. Each of us must find ways to consume less oil. Being afraid of the consequences of that kind of choice is what stops most people in their tracks. We have to have courage and take the first step. If we don't want anarchy down the road we better start making the steps to change now. Ride your bike or walk to the grocery store. People who go grocery shopping in France don't buy food for two weeks supply at a time, they buy fresh and shop every other day. That means a small back pack, not a huge grocery cart full of food. Much easier to transport and you may be motivated to eat less junk and more fresh produce. You say you don't have time in your day to do that? Check to see how much time you spend doing things that aren't healthy, like watching TV, playing video games, or shopping for stuff you don't need.

I think people would become much more concientious about how much oil they consume if it cost alot more, and if that's true then people have choices about how they use oil in the first place.
Posted by: Jeff Bosma