Heading to disaster?
The New York Times has been covering some special interest topics among them “Energy and Power” and “Global Warming.” In the energy site they have the above graphic, which shows how the consumption of fossil fuels is expected to rise while consumption of alternative fuels is expected to remain somewhat constant. If the trend persists, this means that as we mine smaller and smaller reserves of fossil fuels, the prices of every item that we consume will rise all over the world. As we tap into reserves that are harder and harder to mine, we can expect mining accidents to become more frequent as has been happening recently.
The situation may end up not being as terrible as one might think but for those people who currently already struggle, things may end up getting pretty bad. It may take at least a generation to get over the hump. Something like what the Great Depression did to a whole generation and even the generation after. Yes, things can be overcome, but at what cost?
It sure would be nice if each of us tried to curb our consumption of fossil fuels while we find sustainable alternatives. Of course, the catch is that while fossil fuels are cheap, the sustainable alternatives are not attractive enough because they are too costly. Are we facing a Catch-22, I wonder…
