New at Reason: Ronald Bailey on Scientific Innovation and the Depletion of Nonrenewable Resources

August 20, 2010

When you really need something, it’s natural to worry about running out of it. Peak oil, the notion that global petroleum production will top out and then begin to decline permanently, has been a global preoccupation since the 1970s, and the warnings get louder with each passing year. Environmentalists want to put limits on the consumption of fossil fuels, but they haven’t been very successful in encouraging people to consume less energy, even with the force of law at their backs. But as Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey reports, maybe they’re going about it all wrong, looking for solutions in the wrong places.

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