The Republican Who Dared Tell the Truth About America's Looming Oil Disaster

[marmar]

via AlterNet:




The Tyee / By Andrew Nikiforuk

The Republican Who Dared Tell the Truth About America's Looming Oil Disaster
Matt Simmons didn't let the money, bullshit or arrogance surrounding the oil industry cloud his judgment.


"A call to arms may be wrong. We may not even know who the enemy is. And maybe the enemy is us." -- Matt Simmons


After criticizing the reckless conduct of BP in the Gulf of Mexico most of the summer, 67-year-old Matt Simmons eased into his hot tub at his home in North Haven, Maine on Aug. 8. For a short while the famous oil analyst might have pondered his grandiose plans for the world's largest $25-billion offshore wind farm. But Simmons then suffered a heart attack and drowned.

The New York Times duly observed the passing of "the noted energy banker" while Forbes called him "the crazy uncle of the oil patch." And that he was. Gadfly. Visionary. Contrarian. Educator. "Crude Cassandra." Conservative. Together with millions of Americans and Europeans, I dearly miss the life-long Republican and let me tell you why.

Not too many people in the oil patch speak honestly about the world's most powerful industry, but Simmons did. He didn’t let the money, bullshit or arrogance cloud his judgment. Or his basic reading of geology for that matter. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/news/148062/the_republican_who_dared_tell_the_truth_about_america%27s_looming_oil_disaster/

[Cirque du So-What]

1. I haven't donned my tinfoil hat quite yet

but it's sitting on my desk, ready-to-wear at a moment's notice.

[Warren Stupidity]

2. er, tinfoil in what respect?

[Celebration]

3. oh, that the REAL BP hole

was eight miles away from the one we were looking at, and they weren't telling us about that, etc. etc.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. Oh, I dunno...

...just seems that there are a lot of 'convenient' deaths among critics of conservative policy - running the gamut from Dr. David Kelly to Paul Wellstone. As I said, I haven't donned the tinfoil hat yet, but I'm hard-pressed to come up with a death that's more convenient for the oily barons than that of Simmons.

[bherrera]

4. Looming Oil Disaster seems to be improving

I live near the beach in Spain, when the oil spill started, I became very interested in this subject. I read a lot of the information found in the US government website, and other places. My opinion is that Mr Simmons was making many crazy statements. It is possible his health condition was poor, and this had influence over his mind, because he said many things which were clearly non sense. For example, he propose the US government use nuclear bombs to stop the oil flow. This of course is a terrible idea. I think the man damaged his reputation in the end.

[marmar]

6. The "looming oil disaster" in this article is Peak Oil

[bherrera]

7. Ah, Peak Oil is a different matter

In this area he was correct. I became interested in the subject when he wrote his book, and I have concluded the peak oil was already reached for the light to medium oil grades. The difference is now being made by heavier oils, gas condensates, and biofuels. This means that, as the proportion of the more expensive fuels is increased, the fuel prices will increase. This is given by the market force, the price for the supply will be dictated by the price of the marginal supply which comes on top of the total volume (I hope this is clear in words, a graph is easier to understand).

But I would not call it a looming oil disaster. It is an energy supply shift, and it is very helpful, because it will reduce CO2 flows into the atmosphere. If there is no carbon to burn, then the CO2 will gradually be stabilized.

I became confused because the comment included some words about BP, which of course is associated with the oil spill.

[dgibby]

8. Simmons wasn't the only one who suggested the use of a thermonuclear device.

He was basing that on the fact that the Russians had used it successfully on several deep land-based wells, plus IIRC, it was only to be used if all else failed.

As for his heart attack, I'd love to know his medical history. Heart attacks, or more correctly, cardiac arrest, can be caused by many things, not all of them natural causes.