Response to Ralph's economic argument about oil

Dear Ralph,

While the economic side is certainly important and there's a lot to be discovered with market manipulation and profiteering, there is another physical side to the cost of oil and gas.

I've been involved in a film for 4 years on the topic of Peak Oil and Global Oil Depletion. We've collected voluminous research that clearly shows two things.
1. The limits to oil production capacity and it's importance to industrialized societies, and
2. that "free market" forces do not prevail in a capitalist system for the benefit of all (as your email shows, it's quite the reverse)

There's an independent organization of universities & scientists that have committed themselves to researching the energy issue. They're known as ASPO (Association on the Study of Peak Oil). http://www.peakoil.net/

Our film's summation is that historically nations have warred over resource, and oil is the #1 most vital resource to industrialized society. Americans consume more than any nation on earth. 20 mb/day out of a global 80mb/day (mb=millon barrels)

We have to import 12mb/day from foreign sources (ie Middle East & Mexico) to maintain the status quo in our lifestyle and economics.

The US has used it's economic & military power since WWII to maintain US Dollar hegemony, especially in regards to oil. OPEC oil can only be traded in US Dollars - that's the standard propping up the dollar. The dollar is tied to it. Any nation that has tried to trade their indigenous oil supply on the world market in another currency has witnessed the wrath of the United States, usually through our military. (ie. One of Hussein's priorities for Iraq was to open Iraqi oil to the world market in the Euro.)

There's a finite amount of oil. Estimated 2000 trillion barrels on earth. And it seems that 2005-2008 will be the point at which we 'hit the half way point" so to speak and the amount available for production & consumption will go into terminal decline at a rate of 2%-8% per year globally.

It's no coincidence that 72% of the World's oil supply is in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iraq & Iran) and is the zone of US Empire military operations.

Here's our 7-minute promo to the documentary we're making:
www.asleepinamerica.com