Most forms of unconventional oil and gas (including, by the way, shale gas) are invariably very hard on the environment. Although tar sands production draws most of the world’s criticism, we are quickly discovering that deep-water wells and the pressure surges they engender run the risk of wreaking even greater ecological and environmental devastation. ...Why is this so potentially devastating to America’s oil future? The Gulf of Mexico was the only area of the country where there was any reasonable hope of expanding domestic supply. Production in the lower 48 states peaked in the early 1970s....If you’re wondering why we’re risking catastrophic environmental consequences by drilling wells miles below the ocean floor, the answer is simple enough. It’s the same answer to the question of why we’re pouring billions of dollars into the tar sands.Addicts usually deny they have a problem. When an individual persists in use of alcohol or other drugs despite problems related to use of the substance, substance dependence may be diagnosed. As a society, we're addicted to oil. We don't care that our use of fossil fuels destroys the environment - or the freedom of whole peoples. (If you don't believe me, do some research on the Ogoni in Nigeria. Or on Ken Saro Wiwa ring a bell.) We don't care that we're running out - we don't wnat to plan an energy descent. We just want to continue doing what we're doing......consequences be damned.
It’s all that’s left.
We're addicted to oil.
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