July Fifth- a day off- sort of. Thought I'd make an observation before I head off to work.
Yesterday's Oregonian has a long 'Commentary' article on the subject of oil and oil consumption. The title is "The Terminal Decline", the place at which oil production globally starts to go down. Colin Campbell, one expert, pegs that date at 2006. Year after next. Aaron Naparstek is the author and perhaps some will say he's an alarmist and the article is way off base. I thought it made some legitimate points. And it led me to think a little further. One thing that was mentioned but not played up in the article is the increasing demand for oil for the Chinese economy. They're up to seven million cars and there are a billion people there. But the real issue is probably the fact that the economy itself needs oil rather than consumer use. I remember hearing another report recently that the Chinese military was considering how to position itself to guarantee sources of oil. Just as we do. I was also moved to think about how difficult it would be to conduct military campaigns successfully, as we are doing now, if our supplies of oil were seriously truncated. The vast majority of the reserves are all in - you guessed it- the area currently known as Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Iraq and Iran. Apparently the biggest pool of oil- in Saudia Arabia- is estimated only since the Saud government doesn't let anyone do independent measurements, provide detailed reports, or report what they're actual rate of consumption is currently. Well, it seems clear to me that we face, at some future date, the reality of using much much less oil than we do now domestically as well as having to provide a military guarantee for the security of what's left. Change is coming.
I think in my lifetime. Certainly in my children's lifetime.
OK. enough of that. On a cheerier subject, I've got to say how much I love iTunes, my iPod, and the Apple iMusic Store. I have almost completely abandoned radio listening (except OPB) since I can now control and create my own playlists. Of all kinds of music. And never wade through a song I hate. As a music junkie, that makes me really happy. I predict the not too distant demise of some media as we know them as digital formats become cheaper and better. Yahoo!
Yesterday's Oregonian has a long 'Commentary' article on the subject of oil and oil consumption. The title is "The Terminal Decline", the place at which oil production globally starts to go down. Colin Campbell, one expert, pegs that date at 2006. Year after next. Aaron Naparstek is the author and perhaps some will say he's an alarmist and the article is way off base. I thought it made some legitimate points. And it led me to think a little further. One thing that was mentioned but not played up in the article is the increasing demand for oil for the Chinese economy. They're up to seven million cars and there are a billion people there. But the real issue is probably the fact that the economy itself needs oil rather than consumer use. I remember hearing another report recently that the Chinese military was considering how to position itself to guarantee sources of oil. Just as we do. I was also moved to think about how difficult it would be to conduct military campaigns successfully, as we are doing now, if our supplies of oil were seriously truncated. The vast majority of the reserves are all in - you guessed it- the area currently known as Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Iraq and Iran. Apparently the biggest pool of oil- in Saudia Arabia- is estimated only since the Saud government doesn't let anyone do independent measurements, provide detailed reports, or report what they're actual rate of consumption is currently. Well, it seems clear to me that we face, at some future date, the reality of using much much less oil than we do now domestically as well as having to provide a military guarantee for the security of what's left. Change is coming.
I think in my lifetime. Certainly in my children's lifetime.
OK. enough of that. On a cheerier subject, I've got to say how much I love iTunes, my iPod, and the Apple iMusic Store. I have almost completely abandoned radio listening (except OPB) since I can now control and create my own playlists. Of all kinds of music. And never wade through a song I hate. As a music junkie, that makes me really happy. I predict the not too distant demise of some media as we know them as digital formats become cheaper and better. Yahoo!
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