The Oil Depletion Protocol: A Plan to Avert Oil Wars, Terrorism and Economic Collapse (Paperback)

by Richard Heinberg (Author), Colin Campbell (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Since oil is the primary fuel of global industrial civilization, its imminent depletion is a problem that will have a profound impact on every aspect of modern life. With-out international agreement on how to manage the decline of this vital resource, the world faces unprecedented risk of conflict and collapse.

The Oil Depletion Protocol describes a unique accord whereby nations would voluntarily reduce their oil production and oil imports according to a consistent, sen-sible formula. This would enable energy transition to be planned and supported over the long term, providing a context of stable energy prices and peaceful cooperation. The protocol will be presented at international gatherings, initiating the process of country-by-country negotiation and adoption and mobilizing public support. To this end, this book:

Provides an overview of the data concerning Peak Oil and its timing
Briefly explains the protocol and its implications for the reader and for
decision-makers in government and industry around the world
Deals with frequently asked questions and objections
Looks forward to how the protocol can be adopted and how municipalities and ordinary citizens can facilitate the process

Timely and critically important, The Oil Depletion Protocol is a must-read for policymakers and for all who seek to avert a Peak Oil collapse.

About the Author

Richard Heinberg is widely acknowledged as one of the world's foremost Peak Oil educators. A journalist, educator, editor, lecturer, and a Core Faculty member of New College of California where he teaches a program on "Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community, he is the author of six previous books including The Party's Over and Powerdown.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: New Society Publishers (September 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865715637
• ISBN-13: 978-0865715639
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #657,561 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bottom Line Deadly Serious, February 7, 2007

By	Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

All of the non-fiction reading that I have done supports this author's presenation of both the consequences of doing nothing, and practical bottom line: a 3% reduction per year for the next ten to twenty years, of gross consumption (per capita is meaningless when the number of people are growing rapidly) of oil is the only way to transition gracefully.

Amazon visiters need to be aware that the oil industry, and Exxon in particularly, is applying considerable funds to pay for disinformation and misrepresentation. As Al Gore stated in his briefing to 10,000 Republicans in the Taco Bell Arena of Boise State University, the oil companies (less BP and Chevron) are adopting the precise strategy of the tobacco industry, seeking to turn facts into "theories" that are "in dispute."

Reality is not in dispute. What is in dispute is the ethics of the Exxon CEO, among others, who choose to lie to the American people and others and take credit for improving gas mileage when what is really needed is a massive turning away from the use of both oil and water.

This book is a great companion to "Peak Oil Survival," and discusses at the macro levels the implications of oil depletion.

I also like this book because at the back I found a page that informed me that the publisher, New Society Publishers, is both committed to books helpful to society, but that its use of recycled paper as a directly measureable benefit in saving 25 trees, 2,281 gallons of solid waste, 2,512 gallons of water, 3,276 kilowatt hours of electricity, 4,150 lbs of greenhouse gases, 18 lbs of HAPs, VOCs, and AOX combined, and 6 cubic yards of landfill space.

WOW. See my growing list on "true cost" information. Above is the "true cost" for books that do NOT use recycled paper.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Crazy, or what?, February 16, 2008

By	BPL "BrucePL" (Santa Barbara) - See all my reviews

This book is a continuation of the theme of Heinberg's earlier books on peak oil - "The Party's Over", and "Powerdown". A big difference however, is the air of optimism the book has compared to the doomsday tone of the previous two. Not that we are not facing serious times and soon (he documents very well how petroleum dominates all of modern society), this book presents a plan to deal with it beyond the unrealistic rescue scenarios such as oil sands, wind-for-all, and the notion that Sun can supply 5,000 times the energy we need, etc. The idea that nations will control and also decrease their use of oil through international agreements seems at first blush preposterous. However, in chapter 3 he shows how a depletion protocol can mesh with a Kyoto -type protocol for decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. The result is as two-fer; adjusting to decreasing supplies of petroleum while at the same time decreasing emissions through an international treaty. The fact that the U.S. has not agreed to Kyoto does not mean it is dead in the water; well over 100 nations are on board. Coordination of a depletion treaty with an emissions treaty makes solid sense and is I hope, inevitable.

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be Part of the Solution, November 16, 2006

By	cvairag (Allan Hancock College) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I am amazed and bemused that, after all this time and wanton bloodshed in Iraq, the question of Peak Oil has not come front and center to legislative notice and public policy debate. What is the real reason for the prolonged occupation of Iraq? What has been accomplished, at unparalleled expense and terrible loss of life, over these past six years? Basically, two phenomena:

1) The establishment of a circuit of American military bases and military presence surrounding the major oil reserves in Saudi Arabia and Iraq (the vastly greater part of the world's remaing easily accessible oil reserves).

2) The complete shutdown of Iraq's oil production.

Why??

When we think about political motives, certainly Bush would have found himself a much more popular figure without the Iraq war. From another perspective - the so-called war on terrorism salvaged a failing Presidency - but, then again, there is the plethora of questions surrounding the stated plans of PNAC before Bush's ascendency to the Presidency under highly questionable conditions, and then the ever thining government explanation for what appear to be more rightly perceived as the demolitions and mass-murders of 9/11 - the exposed lies re: Sadaam's missing WMD's, and on and on ...

But Why?? Why would this multi-millionaire's son and wealthy cohorts risk the charges of treason which now regularly echo in our streets? Why commit to this policy of unending bloodletting in Iraq, to which our government policy has, unabated (12 years of sanctions and no-fly zones since 1991, for a total of 15 years straight?? For regime change??? To bring democracy to the Middle-East? To lower the price of oil?

When I think that 9/11 may actually be an inside job in the face of stunning and plentiful evidence - not the least of which is Bush's stalling an investigation for over 400 days. . . THERE MUST BE AN EXPLANATION.

Something must be really scaring our nation's leaders, driving them to desperate measures - and I believe, with Heinberg, that SOMETHING is PEAK OIL. The current policy in the corporate owned media has been to dismiss Peak Oil as a myth, or a 'flawed' theory. You can verify this by simply entering "peak oil" in on Google. Otherwise, no one in power in the US is talking about it, though hardly is such a threat, I would say the main threat, to national security off the table. After all, how is your typical politician going to inform you that with the radically increased oil consumption in China - oil supplies could begin to effectively diminish as early as 2010 and maybe disappear by 2020? How could our leaders publicly announce such a bewildering situation without a viable solution?

Their solution (a temporary fix at best) seems to be the occupation of Iraq - really the first resource war - with all attendant costs. Apparently, the oil depletion crisis is scary enough to warrant the billions in debt merely to keep Iraqi oil safe in the ground, on reserve for when WE NEED it, behind OUR guns. Will we leave Iraq, like Vietnam? I doubt it. The two situations are actually, at the root, quite different. We have come to the end of the age of oil, and non-renewable energy.

Heinberg for years has been the most dependable and articulate source for information about this most crucial issue. After 9/11, he was one of the sanest voices - explaining this incredible state of affairs to many of us who had never really considered the situation in depth.

In this new, very important work, we are provided with a way out - like Buddha's 4th Noble Truth - Heinberg details a concrete solution - by which we can actually change direction (like the Dems are currently promising to do - but may have no idea of how to). This ultimate 'how to' book should be at the top of the bestseller's lists - but as you see it is not - which is as great an indicator as any - that the way out may be long and hard, at best -

We need to cooperatively, methodically, reduce our dependence on oil. The foundations of such a plan are found here in Heinberg's always precise and comprehensive approach. Required reading for all who want to help, need help, or who wish to serve humanity at this, perhaps terminal, turning point.