Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

Given the enormous rate at which the world has been burning its way through oil in the
past few decades, two things are highly probable:
• Geological constraints alone are enough to prevent continued production at the
current near‐peak rates much beyond 2015.
• Despite continuing significant declines as time goes on, production rates will remain
sufficiently high that most of the remaining oil in the world will be consumed over
the course of the next few decades. If the downslope of the global oil production
curve resembles the upslope, 90% of the world’s remaining recoverable oil will be
gone within 50 years of the peak – in other words, within roughly 50 years of the
present.
What’s more, the U.S. currently imports approximately two‐thirds of its oil. Our ability to
do so depends on the continued willingness and ability of a relatively small number of oil‐
producing nations with surpluses to continue to export. However, production within many
of those countries will probably be going into decline within one or two decades.
It’s time to change the way we do business. It’s time to re‐think our individual and
community habits to radically reduce our reliance on oil.
STRATEGIES THAT WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM
As the discourse on “peak oil” intensifies, so too do possible “solutions.” Many solutions
pivot on the idea that we will be able to continue “business as usual” without any effort to
conserve or become more efficient. For reasons explained below, the Task Force considers
some of the most popular proposals – drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, mining
oil shale and biofuels – as intrinsically limited and flawed.
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)
The ban on offshore drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) has re‐entered
public discussion and some advocate for opening up this ecologically‐fragile area for
drilling. However, even if a substantial amount of oil is found in this area, it will take many
years to bring it into production.
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force
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