My posting was intended to point out some facts that I believe are not being given sufficient weight by the alarmists out there. These facts may be
found in the links I provided, but there are lots more of a corroborative nature, if you do a little searching. The responses I've seen to my posting
unfortunately are fact-poor and based on supposition and speculation.
May I respond as follows?
If this is true, you might want to let the world's experts know about it.
I don't like responding to simple sarcasm, the use of which is unworthy in any discussion. However, here are links to a report out of Radford
University and the US Department of Energy. The US Government has published a document called the "Strategic Significance of America's Oil Shale
Resource". My apologies, but I couldn't make the link work, but do a Google search on that title and you can get it.
www.radford.edu..." target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow">
www.radford.edu...
Are these folks expert enough? If not, just do a search on "unconventional oil" and you'll get lots more.
Venezuela won't be inclined to do us any favors any time soon.
Transient political issues are irrelevant. Chavez won't last forever. The oil will still be there. And political issues are not an issue for the very
large Canadian resources. See
www.growley.com...
Oil will become more expensive. A lot more. To further this, oil shale costs a lot more to extract and produces less net energy in the process.
Fuel will skyrocket.
Speculation. Oil already has become more expensive - to the point where billions are being invested in new Canadian oil sands plants. There are,
however, countervailing possibilities. For example, when any commodity becomes more expensive, consumers become more efficient about using it, or find
alternatives. Do I know where prices will go? Not at all - but neither do you, and such bald assertions are meaningless. There are other factors
impacting the price of oil. It may well drop, for example, if there is a global recession.
Everything will escalate and total havoc will break out... We are in for a world of hurt and I think survival of the fittest will be the rule
of law.
Oh, come on. Perhaps you're not old enough to remember the "oil shock" of the early 70's, but I am. Even in the US, there were lineups at the gas
pumps. But the apocalyptic consequences you predict simply did not happen. What did happen was more complex, but essentially, we all adjusted to it.
Economic dislocation? Sure, there was some. What else is new? The world is a very dynamic place.
The interconnectedness that you covered is something that is lost on a lot of people.
I don't disagree with this statement per se, but I assure you I am well aware of interconnectedness. But focussing on interconnectedness to the
exclusion of other factors isn't doing justice to the issue. What other factors?
Innovation - the ability to find new sources of energy.
Adapation - tolerance for higher prices, the ability to use less
Productivity - are oil shales and oil sands expensive sources. Yes, at present. But you can bet there are lots of industry experts focussed on making
it less so.
I was commenting on his close proximity to work. 
