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24 Feb 2004 HEADLINE |
Forecast of Rising Oil Demand Challenges Tired Saudi Fields
Source: New York Times
Class: SYNDICATED NEWS
SYNOPSIS: "In the past, the world has counted on Saudi Arabia," one senior Saudi oil executive said. "Now I don't see how long it can be maintained."
When visitors tour the headquarters of Saudi Arabia's oil empire — a sleek glass building rising from the desert in Dhahran near the Persian Gulf — they are reminded of its mission in a film projected on a giant screen. "We supply what the world demands every day," it declares.
For decades, that has largely been true. Ever since its rich reserves were discovered more than a half-century ago, Saudi Arabia has pumped the oil needed to keep pace with rising needs, becoming the mainstay of the global energy markets.
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Reader Comments
4 comments so far...
24-Feb-2004
1762
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So why does our government drag its heels, and kick-n-scream at the thought of conserving resources? And, will they drive us full throttle into a dead end?
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Posted by: Jim O
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25-Feb-2004
1781
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So why havn't we declared war on SUVs? Our gluttony is too much for me."
Posted by: Bob Owens
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25-Feb-2004
1782
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This is an incredible article- coming from the New York Times- I'll have to stick it to all the people who didn't believe me when I was running around saying saudi arabia was reaching its peak in oil production after the news of the quota cut a couple of weeks ago. War on SUVs sounds good to me right about now. (i hope you've all read some of those great books on peak oil, like 'the party's over' )
Actually, war on this stupid suburban sprawl system we've backed ourselves into would be more to the point. Sustainable architecture/development is urban- allways has been and should allways be. Urban=consolidated. and there'd be more of that leafy greenery everyone so desires if you let it be or left it to the farmers by dropping this warped idea of the american dream and moving back into a town or city.
The cities of today, seen as less than desireable to live in by many, are unfortunately only a shell of thier former selves (and i speak of eastern cities- cities in Texas {like huston for example} and the city of L.A. have been built with little planning and virtually no regard for urban precedents dealing with pedestrians). Our (usa's) cities- thier glory days were from colonial times to the early twenties. Yes, there was a lot of coal being burned those days- and there was the smell of horse dung occasionally (but it didn't give you asthma or cancer or global warming!). Positively- it was a time when bicycles were a very popular form of transportation. There were streetcars running nearly everywhere in a mad spiderweb- and they ran very frequently. Work was only a few miles away at maximum. One could interact socially with more people- thier neighbors for example- because you bumped into them frequently at the corner store or while you walked/took public trans to work. Your fruits and veggies were'nt from some mega-monocropping farm, genetically modified for maximum yield- no, they were from local farms, organically grown. The architecture was built to LAST- and beautiful- eloquently decorated at a human scale- expensive and fantastical endeavors which many could enjoy (the exteriors at a minimum- they weren't faux chateaus in gated communities). And- very important- there was no suburban sprawl- you could exit a town and find yourself very rapidly in wilderness- the countryside was quiet/beaucolic and not cluddered with signs and roadside burger stops. Look people- the list goes on and on.
Our cities and towns have the latency for us to harness what is left of our heritage and combine it with the best of the technology we have availible today. You wan't sustainible communities- take a brick row-home or townhome and add new double pane insulated windows, insulate the walls- and put a bank of solar panels on the roof- that's sustainible architecture- availible today. Dump your car if you can. Invest in a car sharing program within your city. Get and ride a bike, or an electric assisted bike or elec. scooter to get around- maybe even a NEV or Full EV if you have the place to charge it. Walk as much as is practicle. Support the few remaining mom&pop places. take public transportation for goodness sake. all of these things will make you a flea on the energy usage map compared with a suburban soccer mom or a stressed, caught in traffic, middle management trooper.
I feal like i'm making a Dean scream speach. enough, i'm spent. if anyone wants to argue or complain about what i've said- i'm up for it. And don't tell me about the failure of urban school systems- I know! Your parents left the cities and eroded the realestate tax base for these institutions long ago- left a bunch of poor people to themselves with lessened education and took a bunch of jobs to suburban corporate centers with you- leaving these people to be bussed one hour each way to a suburban mall or burger joint. we've also exported nearly all of our manufacturing jobs. I know not everyone can do what i suggested- but if you're young- then the change begins with you. lets clean up our cities, make them safer (and many of our cities are allready pretty safe- suburbanites just have an unfounded fear of urban areas now- i know, i grew up in suburbia and had that fear- until now), and make them more enjoyable to live in by taking as many of these darn noisy and noxious metal boxes we can off the streets- and save what oil is left for more important things- like plastics.
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Posted by: Ben N.
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02-Mar-2004
1836
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No more Wars, Suv or otherwise. The SUV isn't the problem. Competition is. The idea that we must constantly grow to be bigger or better than the next guy is why we are destroying ourselves. The control must be applied to the DESIRE for these things, not to the things themselves. SUV's don't waste gas, people do.If you outlaw SUV's, only the government will have them. We need a FAIR TAX www.FairTaxvolunteer.org NOW!! We need a regressive system to REDUCE the desires and reduce the economy. It is time to eliminate the confusion and bureaucracy that allows the government to drag its feet, people to blow $100,000 or more on luxuries and diamonds,and eliminate the FEAR of living an individual centered life. That money comes from the back of an Asian coolie somewhere, or out of a hole in the ground; there is NO SUCH THING as a service ECONOMY, only a service SOCIETY, which is a resource hog.
Cities of millions of people are NOT the answer. If we have small communities with local support, local education, and net creativity, why do we need all those people running around doing nothing but advertising ('marketing') themselves, their religions (growth 'economics'), their lifestyles, and their stupid entertainment? Humanity has already ACHIEVED! Now it's time to step back and sustain that knowledge achievement and establish sustainability of our species. We are not insects, and it is time to stop acting like we are all a branch of the New York Times' HIVE MIND.
Subdivisions are the big gaping hole in our searches for purpose. They just illustrate that people in the country have become dependent on the money of the city collective, and people of the city can't find individual peace as part of a HIVE. It is a symptom of the destroyed individual, which has been the goal of intellectuals and communists all along. Only now, we call it 'freedom' and 'capitalism', and 'economics'. The capitalists don't stop to think about it while the houses are being built and the money rolls in, and the intellectuals are too busy spending their money at Starbucks while they blather away on their wi-fi blogs about the horror of the machines to stop and think that THEY could be absolutely unnecessary to the human race.
AAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH! bye, I've got farming to do.
Posted by: Dan Conine
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