The Oil Crisis in a Nutshell: We're Driving Toward Disaster.

Wake Up, America. We're Driving Toward Disaster. - washingtonpost.com

If you have heard about "peak oil" and aren't quite clear on its meaning, or have a sneaking suspicion that the high gas prices are here to stay, read this editorial. Here's a sneak peak:

"The public, and especially the mainstream media, misunderstands the "peak oil" story. It's not about running out of oil. It's about the instabilities that will shake the complex systems of daily life as soon as the global demand for oil exceeds the global supply. These systems can be listed concisely:

The way we produce food

The way we conduct commerce and trade

The way we travel

The way we occupy the land

The way we acquire and spend capital

And there are others: governance, health care, education and more.

As the world passes the all-time oil production high and watches as the price of a barrel of oil busts another record, as it did last week, these systems will run into trouble. Instability in one sector will bleed into another. Shocks to the oil markets will hurt trucking, which will slow commerce and food distribution, manufacturing and the tourist industry in a chain of cascading effects."