Everywhere I look, I see cheap oil…

Charles Hugh Smith posted a doozie of a list yesterday.  It’s awesome to think of all the things that we have and use and take for granted, everyday, that rely on oil to be cheap and plentiful.  Read through the list and imagine how more expensive and/or limited supplies of the stuff will affect your access to these things.

A sample…(my 2 cents in parenthesis)

When I see busy airports and taxiing aircraft, I see cheap oil. (too bad YQG)

When I see goods from China on sale for less than a dollar, I see cheap oil.  (Dollarama is already becoming the buck-and-a-half-arama.  Coming soon The Fiver Store?)

When I see branded water in plastic bottles, I see cheap oil.  (Not to mention half-empty water bottles on a table after a meeting.)

When I see inexpensive meat in supermarket coolers, I see cheap oil.  (Bye-bye Tyson’s - back to the family farm for your poultry needs.)

When I see bakeries which sell only dog treats, I see cheap oil.  (As a treat to himself my dog likes to scarf down socks)

When I see a new iPad, I see cheap oil.  (and the diminishing returns of technology)

When I see electric bicycles, I see cheap oil.  (Save $500, pedal the damn thing and get a little healthier.)

When I see a Prius, I see cheap oil. - Mining and processing all that lithium into complex batteries requires a lot of energy.  (If you think the tar sands are an environmental calamity wait’ll they dig up half of Bolivia).

When I see adverts for cosmetic surgery, I see cheap oil. (I see people’s souls ruined by marketing and vanity.)

When I see a stadium full of sports fans, I see cheap oil.  (I wonder how civil the Montreal Canadien fan riots will seem compared to the displeasure just over the horizon.)

Remember living smaller, more localized lives is not a "lifestyle choice".  It is the new reality.  It’s just there’s advertising and marketing dollars to be made before the average person finds out that NASCAR and LCD tvs are not entitlements - they’re just artifacts of a wasteful culture.

Tags: culture, local economy, peak oil