“Peak Oil is not just the end of globalization. I was saying clearly that globalization was dead five years ago. It was obvious. But Peak Oil is potentially the end of the human race and that outcome is perhaps just a few years away unless the human race essentially throws every ideological sacred cow out the window and starts with a fresh piece of paper.

[…]The collapse of industrial civilization within the next five to ten years (perhaps sooner) is inevitable. It is the degree of collapse, what is destroyed in the collapse, how many people will have to die in the collapse, and what will survive the collapse that I and many others are fighting for now. That is what every human being should be concerned about and nothing less. Pursuing options while not rapidly disengaging from the current economic paradigm of infinite growth is the only real issue confronting the entire species. To not do that will be literally to consign unborn generations and those under 40 to death or a living hell.”

Read the whole interview over at Energy Bulletin.

Also watch George Monbiot interviewing Fatih Birol, International Energy Authority’s chief economist, about the new startling and worrying prediction for the date of peak oil.

But offshore drilling is not a “quick fix” and it won’t help to lower the gas prices. The only ones that will profit from this are Bush and McCain’s friends in the oil industry. While people are suffering from the high gas prices the oil companies are reporting record profits after record profits.

Greenpeace has listed a bunch of reasons why offshore drilling is not the answer to high gas prices at the pump:

“The United States burns 24 percent of the world’s oil, yet we only have 3 percent of the world’s oil reserves. Even if we drilled every drop of oil the U.S. has on shore or off its coasts, we will never be able to drill our way to lower oil prices or energy security. We simply burn more than we could ever drill.”

“Offshore oil drilling is not a short-term fix. It would take at least a decade to bring new leases into production. And, it will be years before exploration could begin and years after that before production would start. If any effect were to be felt on gas prices (most likely only a few pennies per gallon), that effect is decades away.”

“Offering up more of our coastline for drilling won’t lower gas prices. Since President Bush took office in 2000, the number of wells in federally leased areas has increased exponentially, yet gas prices have doubled during that same time. Yet, this type of evidence is never mentioned in the media or by proponents for offshore drilling.”

“Another reason that drilling for more oil in the U.S. won’t result in lower gas prices is because oil prices are set on the global oil market. What this means is that all oil produced around the world is sold all at the same price. There is no guarantee that we would even be using the oil that was drilled here in the U.S. And, we certainly wouldn’t get a discount just because we drilled for it on U.S. soil. We would pay the same rate as the rest of the world.”

The only things that will lower the fuel prices, create more jobs, solve the climate crisis and fix this fragile economy is to invest in clean renewable energy sources, setting strict mpg standards for all automobiles and transform our current society to a sustainable one.

Going green will fix many problems, one of them are high gas prices.

Well, that was the question behind a recent survey commissioned by the Fairfax County (VA) Economic Development Authority, one of the leading economic development organizations in the US.

700 American adults were asked this question:

What do you believe should be the highest priority, in terms of investing money and resources, in order to achieve a meaningful technological advancement in the next 10 years?

The result might surprise. According to the survey Americans wants a solution to the gas crisis more than they want a cure for cancer, heart diseases or other similar medical breakthroughs.

37% of the people who took part in the survey “thought money and resources should be placed into a breakthrough in fuel efficiency or alternative fuels, while 30 percent wanted the effort placed against an advance in medicine.”

The environment (climate change) was only ranked on third place with 14%.

Security and defence was ranked shortly after the environment with 10%. Transportation and space exploration each had 3% while telecommunication and media was placed at the bottom with only 2%.

The full survey result can be found below:

Top priority for technological breakthroughs?
Surprise: Four in 10 Americans say “fuel efficiency and alternative fuels”

Focus on medical and environmental concerns place second and third in national survey by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority

Second survey reveals similar priorities among British respondents

Fairfax County, Virginia USA, April 3, 2008 – Nearly four in 10 Americans polled in a new survey say that improving fuel efficiency and developing alternative fuels should have the highest priority for investments that will lead to meaningful technological advances within the next decade.

In a just released national survey, commissioned by the Fairfax County (Virginia) Economic Development Authority (FCEDA, www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org) and conducted by IPSOS Public Affairs, an independent, leading global research company, 37 percent of those polled selected “fuel efficiency and alternative fuels” from a list of seven categories of potential investment. Placing second was “medical” (30%) followed by the “environment” (14%). As a percentage of the total, the other categories registered at 10% or less.

“These results are a snapshot in time of what people believe today should be the focus of technological investment,” said Gerald L. Gordon, Ph.D., president and CEO of the FCEDA. “As one of the world’s most prominent breeding grounds for creative discovery and technological exploration, Fairfax County needs to know what is important to people. These survey results tell us that there is a tremendous interest in new technologies that will address a range of energy, medical and environmental concerns. These are instructive findings for large corporations, emerging startups and the investment community.”

The top line results of the survey, conducted by telephone of close to 700 American adults on March 7-9, were as follows:

If you had to choose from the following categories, what do you believe should be the highest priority, in terms of investing money and resources, in order to achieve a meaningful technological advancement in the next 10 years?

Fuel efficiency and alternative fuels Medical Environment Security and Defense Transportation Space Exploration Telecommunications and Media Don’t know/Not sure

37% 30% 14% 10% 3% 3% 2% 1%

There were some notable demographic distinctions among the findings, including:

• For female respondents, the top investment focus was medical (33%), which was cited foremost by 26% of men.
• More than four in 10 men (43%) said fuel efficiency and alternative fuels should be the highest priority, while only 30% of women placed it on top.
• Forty-six percent of college graduates named fuel efficiency as the number one priority versus 31% for those with high school degrees or less. (The highest priority cited by high school graduates was “medical” at 36 percent.).
• Respondents in western states cited medical as the utmost priority at 34% versus 33% for fuel efficiency and alternative fuels.
• Older survey participants were more inclined to select fuel efficiency and alternative fuels – 42% for those ages 55 and older versus 37% for those aged 35-54 and 31% for those between the ages of 18-34.

A parallel survey conducted by the FCEDA in Great Britain found that respondents favored advancements in “medical” technology and “fuel efficiency and alternative fuels” (38% and 33% respectively) above other categories. A desire to see breakthroughs in the “environment” ranked third in GB with 14 percent. As a percentage of the total, the remaining categories registered at 10 percent or less among British respondents, as they did in America.

The top-line results of the survey, conducted by telephone of more than 500 adults throughout Great Britain March 7-9 by Ipsos MORI, were as follows:

If you had to choose from the following categories, what do you believe should be the highest priority, in terms of investing money and resources, in order to achieve a meaningful technological advancement in the next 10 years?

Medical Fuel efficiency and alternative fuels Environment Transportation Security
and Defense Space Exploration Telecommunications and Media No opinion

38% 33% 14% 8% 4% 1% 1% 3%

There were also some notable demographic distinctions among the British findings, including:

• 44 percent of male respondents said fuel efficiency and alternative fuels should be the highest priority, while only 23 percent of women placed it on top.
• Women chose “medical” technology as the top investment focus (46%) while men placed medical second on their list (28%) behind fuel efficiency and alternative fuels.
• Survey participants ages 55 to 64 were more inclined to select medical as their top priority (43%), while respondents 65+ selected fuel efficiency and alternative fuels (36%).
• In terms of regions, the South East, Wales and the South West chose fuel efficiency and alternative fuels above all other categories (38 and 39% respectively). The Midlands, North England and Scotland all pinpointed medical as their key issue.

Survey Methodology
The FCEDA survey was conducted March 7-9, 2008 by Ipsos Public Affairs, which is owned and managed by research professionals. As part of its weekly U.S. Telephone Omnibus Study, IPSOS interviewed 692 adults ages 18 and older. The margin of error for the entire survey is 4% at a 95% confidence level.

About the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority
The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (www.FairfaxCountyEDA.org) promotes Fairfax County, Virginia, as a business and technology center. In 2007 Time magazine called Fairfax County “one of the great economic success stories of our time.” It is the Washington, D.C., area’s private-sector job leader and is a major hub for regional economic activity. The FCEDA maintains marketing offices in San Francisco, Bangalore, Frankfurt, London, Seoul and Tel Aviv.