Last night I watched the documentary A Crude Awakening and it certainly brings up a lot of alarming points that we all have to face and the sooner or later. The film suggests that we may soon reach Peak Oil production (if we haven’t already reached that mark) and that the developed world seriously needs to find an alternative renewable source of energy. It also suggests that our addition to oil will lead to wars (Iraq anyone?) as we try and secure the last reserves.

A Crude Awakening reinforces the view of the late Dr. M King Hubbert who in the 1950s predicted that US oil production would peak around 1970. Of course he was called an alarmist and laughed out of his profession but low and behold his prediction came true. Coupled with 1973 oil embargo from Arab states, the US got a taste of what life would be like after the oil wells ran dry. Dr. Hubbert made another prediction, that the planet would reach Peak Oil production at the turn of the century…

The film does feel a bit one sided and have an alarmist point of view but you know what, it doesn’t matter because the morale of the story is true. Oil is a finite resource that we use for everything. Most only think of fuel for transportation but petroleum products are used in things like pharmaceuticals and of course everyone’s favorite, plastics. In terms of plastics, the three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle in case you forgot ;)) help but it’s not the answer to our problems.

Heh I rather enjoyed this one speaker talking about how Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest supplier of oil however its reserves never decrease. How OPEC countries continually boost their reserve numbers so they can output more barrels and heck if a Republican Congressman like Roscoe Bartlett recognizes that Peak Oil is a real issue, we all need to take notice!

If you have the time, this film is definitely worth watching. Hopefully society can meet the challenge of finding a cheap renewable source of energy quickly. If not it’s going to be tough times ahead.