The front page, center column, of the Wall Street Journal this morning:

“Saudi Industrial Drive Strains Oil-Export Role”

I would very much like to congratulate the many contributors to the “Peak Oil” discussion at TheOilDrum.com and EnergyBulletin.net for their part in making the American people, and the citizens of the world, aware of this emerging crisis.

While many of us had been pointing out that “Peak Oil” would strike the major industrial importing countries long before the rest of the world, particular recognition should go to Jeffrey Brown, a volunteer contributor at TheOilDrum.com for coining the term “The Export Land Model”, constructing the model and, above all, having the patience to explain the issue, ad nauseum, to the chronically intellectually dishonest and challenged members of our mainstream media, financial services industry, and government. (I’m sorry, I really should get over it, but I just can’t seem to miss an opportunity to call these folks out for what they are.)

To all: Enjoy your moment in the sun. The ramifications of your analysis, which appears to be more or less as correct as one could hope for considering the less than perfect data we are working with to arrive at these conclusions, might beg us to remember to “be careful what you ask for, you may get it”. Not that any of us asked for an energy crisis, we just pointed out the obvious.

As the financial market’s participants knowledge of the issue comes to full bloom, I would hope that the consequences and impacts of this outcome would be the driving force behind all policy, and personal, decisions.

The question is, and I will quote Bob Shaw from TheOilDrun.com:

“Are humans smarter than yeast?”

(Yeast will ferment our alcohol for us as they grow and consume the resources within their environment but in the process destroy themselves by destroying the environment within the fermenting medium)

I’d like to think so, Bob, but would have to say that, at this moment, the real question is:
Are the people in power capable of helping the people avoid the yeast’s fate, or are they more interested in staying in power? Unfortunately, we know the answer to that question.

Yours for a better world,


Mentatt (at) yahoo (d0t) com