Time was you could find it bubbling up on the surface. Then you had to dig for it. Then you had to frack. Then oil was expensive enough to justify going back to the old oilfields and pumping water down some of them to push it into the others.
Sure, there’s oil there, but it’s harder and harder to get. That’s why protected areas that still have easy oil are a target for the oil companies.
But the point is that it doesn’t matter if there is oil shortage or not. Even if there would be oil shortage, it is not (and should not be) the main reason why we’re moving away from oil.
They are the path of least resistant yes. But that path often leads to collective losses, or if the stakes are high, like in climate change, to collective destruction. We get stuck in the Nash equilibrium of a prisoners dilemma.
That’s true. Without economic pressure it’s a lot harder to get governments to cooperate, though. If economics favor you it’s easier to get the right laws passed.
There is a shortage of cheap oil.
Time was you could find it bubbling up on the surface. Then you had to dig for it. Then you had to frack. Then oil was expensive enough to justify going back to the old oilfields and pumping water down some of them to push it into the others.
Sure, there’s oil there, but it’s harder and harder to get. That’s why protected areas that still have easy oil are a target for the oil companies.
Ok yes, the EROI is going down.
But the point is that it doesn’t matter if there is oil shortage or not. Even if there would be oil shortage, it is not (and should not be) the main reason why we’re moving away from oil.
Economic reasons are the best reasons. They’re the reasons that work.
I don’t think it matters why we move away from oil, as long as we do.
They are the path of least resistant yes. But that path often leads to collective losses, or if the stakes are high, like in climate change, to collective destruction. We get stuck in the Nash equilibrium of a prisoners dilemma.
That’s true. Without economic pressure it’s a lot harder to get governments to cooperate, though. If economics favor you it’s easier to get the right laws passed.
True