Although I’ve been speaking this way for a few years now, I was surprised by this quote:
The world is now facing an oil crisis few predicted and even fewer are prepared for. It’s impossible to understate how crucial cheap oil has become to our way of life. It’s shaped how we get our food, what we buy, where we live, how we work, and the way we play. Cheap oil opened up the world to millions of travellers via discount airlines, allowed thousands to buy their first homes in sprawling suburbs, and enabled consumers to get their hands on ever cheaper goods, shipped just in time, from around the globe. Now economists say all of that is at risk. Exactly how the end of cheap oil will change our lives is still far from clear. But change them it will, in profound and dramatic ways. If the price of oil continues to climb to US$200 a barrel, it won’t just be that people will have to drive a little bit less or skip the family trip to Disneyland. Across the board the cost of living will explode, not just for luxuries but basic necessities as well. To hear some experts tell it, we’re headed for nothing short of Oilmageddon. At the very least, they say, the age of plenty is over.
It’s not the content which surprises me, but the source: Macleans Magazine. If Canada’s largest newsweekly is reporting on this, maybe it’ll start sinking in, right?