There's an elephant in the room. Energy Watch Group is saying today that global oil production peaked in 2006 and will now be in terminal decline year-on-year. The range of predictions as to when we'd hit the peak is very wide, from earlier this century to the dim-and-distant future. What matters is that oil, being a finite resource, was always going to go this way from the moment the very first oil well was drilled in the 1850s. Since then we've treated this precious resource like there was an unlimited supply of the stuff, a delusion we're about to start paying very heavily for.

What is utterly incredible is that government remains silent on the subject. Either they don't want to worry us and have matters well in hand or they have no handle on this whatsoever and like most people don't want to grasp the harsh realities of what this means. From all the pronouncements they make about how important 'climate change' is I'm guessing the latter as they still seem to think this is an issue that can be addressed within the bounds of our market economies.

If you have the time read through this entry over on The Oil Drum as it makes the very good point that we exceeded the carrying capacity of our environment some time ago and have been using the "one-time gift" of oil to compensate for this. The stupidity of our collective behaviour boggles the mind. This is the most serious issue facing us as a species today and yet people look blank when you mention the words peak oil.

Update: Here's an article that says the government is planning to abandon the agreed target for renewable energy that they previously signed up to.

Update: A new report from the UN is saying we're in serious trouble too.