We talk about climate change quite a bit in the “green” world but until recently I hadn’t really learned that much about oil production and what is also means to the world. Sure, I know to “use less” and “conserve” but is keeping my heat at 62 degrees and owning a fuel efficient vehicle really conserving? And is it really all just about the ever present “carbon footprint”?

I’ve recently been reading The Transition Handbook and the author, Rob Hopkins, points out that we not only need to worry about climate change, we also need to worry about the fact that there is only so much oil, and if we’ve reached Peak Oil then we’re all consuming on borrowed time.

Peak oil is defined as being the moment when we have reached the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction – basically once we’ve reached the apex of pumping oil out of the earth. Once that point is reached, the production of oil will go into a terminal decline meaning that the price of oil will rise and rise and supply becomes even more disproportionate to demand.

Whether we have already reached or are getting close to Peak Oil is a hotly contested debate. The oil companies are constantly putting out information about new potential oil fields and trying to allay fears about peak oil, but there are other analysts, geologists and scientists out there that say we have already hit this crucial point.

The reason Peak Oil becomes important is that it raises consciousness about the value of this resource – which is not infinite. And, knowing when we do hit Peak Oil will help us prepare for the inevitable oil reserve depletion. As a society and as an economy, we need to be aware of how dependent we are on petroleum and we need to reduce that dependence so we aren’t in big trouble as it becomes more and more expensive.

After all, we don’t just use petroleum to heat our homes and fuel our cars – we use it in tons and tons of products from nylon to polyester and everything in between. It makes perfect sense that we’ve used it for as many applications as we have, but we need to have a plan for when all of these cheap and easy products aren’t as readily available. I think we all need to make a commitment to begin supporting or continue supporting products with lower carbon footprints and choose products made of natural non-petroleum based materials to reduce our consumption now.

Essentially, we need to think about peak oil and consumption as much as we need to think about CO2 emissions as we think about conservation, the environment and going green.

Learn more about Peak Oil:

• Peak Oil at Wikipedia
• ASPO International: The Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas

Peak Oil: How Will You Ride the Slide