CERA's Rosy Oil Forecast – Pabulum to the People
At a moment when a tank full of gasoline costs $75, the Chinese are eagerly trading bicycles for cars, and Americans are consuming their body weight in petroleum each week, it would be nice to know how much oil will be readily available a decade from now. In a thirsty world, will supply be adequate to satisfy demand? A new study from Cambridge Energy Resources Associates, a prominent research firm, says not to worry. “Capacity growth will accommodate rising world oil demand so long as there are no major disruptions in the actual flow of oil,” said CERA’s Chairman Daniel Yergin. Global supply could increase 25% by 2015 to 110 million barrels a day, he says. This surge of new oil would meet forecast increases in demand, with a surplus to spare, putting downward pressure on prices, the study notes.

Katrina, global warming and peak oil
When Hurricane Katrina struck the city of New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005, it led to more than 1,000 deaths and $200 billion in damages and set off the largest, most costly disaster-relief operation in American history. But was global warming to blame? Scientists still don't agree, but there's plenty of evidence that global warming may have increased sea surface temperatures, which, in turn, would load the dice for bigger hurricanes. Mike Tidwell thinks that this possibility should get more credit in Washington, where the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has tended to point the finger at natural cycles and away from global warming. Whatever the scientific basis for NOAA's position, it has been politically convenient for the Bush administration, which has finally accepted that global warming exists and is caused by humans, but continues to resist serious action to reduce greenhouse-gas pollution, saying it would hurt the economy and cost 4 million jobs.