Earth Island Journal
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Getting over oil
A recovery model for our oil addiction.
The impending global peak in oil production is likely to lead to economic chaos and extreme geopolitical tensions, raising the specters of war, revolution, terrorism, and even famine, unless nations adopt some method of cooperatively reducing their reliance on oil. The Oil Depletion Protocol is one such method – perhaps the simplest imaginable. Under an Oil Depletion Protocol, nations would agree to reduce their oil production and imports according to a consistent, sensible formula. This would have two principal effects: first, it would reduce price volatility and enable nations, municipalities, industries, and companies to plan their economic future; and second, it would reduce international competition for remaining oil resources. As the draft language of the Protocol itself states:
- The world and every nation shall aim to reduce oil consumption by at least the world depletion rate.
- No country shall produce oil at above its present depletion rate.
- No country shall import [oil] at above the world depletion rate.
photos.comThe governments of Sweden and Iceland have taken the lead in establishing official goals of completely ending their nations’ petroleum dependence, and other nations such as Cuba have made important strides to reduce oil consumption. These efforts can be replicated or adapted by other nations – and in fact must be, if the world is to respond peacefully to the inevitable peaking of world oil production.
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Richard Heinberg is author (with Colin Campbell) of The Oil Depeletion Protocol (New Society Publishers, 2006), from which this article was adapted.