I have a friend (who reads this site) who is a Global Warming skeptic. I believe his skepticism may be warranted, even though I personally believe that the planet is warming and we are not helping the cause. However, he agrees with me that we should build a more sustainable environment. This is where I believe that Al Gore’s movie has made a major impact. It took an issue that was on the fringe of our development process and brought it to the forefront.
There’s another documentary called A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash. It tackles a subject (Peak Oil) that is equally frightening, and possibly more pressing than Global Warming. Unfortunately, without the public figure of Al Gore, it got very little attention. However, if we change our built environment to tackle Global Warming, we can also tackle Peak Oil at the same time, and come out on the other side with a cleaner and more efficient society. This is where I believe that even Global Warming skeptics like my friend can thank Al Gore. I just hope it isn’t already too late.
Man, if you believe the doomsday scenario, Peak Oil is some scary stuff. Even in the mildest case, Peak Oil is going to be BAD.
The sooner we seriously deal with this, the better. $6/gallon gas can’t come soon enough. People need a serious kick in the pants.
Ya, if you want a good blog about this, read the Oil Drum. I have a difficult time with peak oil, and generally try not to think about it too much. It’s really depressing.