The NSW Treasurer, Michael Costa, in response to questions about Peak Oil reponded with ….The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stones; it ended because we found a new technology. The Iron Age did not end because we ran out of iron and the hydrocarbon age will not end because we run out of hydrocarbons…….
The main game is the reduction in resources on which our life depends -fertile land for agriculture, clean water, rich biodiversity (to maintain stable climate). As Jared Diamond writes about the decline of the Easter Islanders: http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/24/042.html In just a few centuries, the people of Easter Island wiped out their forest, drove their plants and animals to extinction, and saw their complex society spiral into chaos and cannibalism. Are we about to follow their lead?
For a good source of information on Peak Oil: http://peakenergy.blogspot.com/
For the full Costa response: Hansard 23/10/07 page 13
Ms LEE RHIANNON: I direct my question to the Treasurer. In light of the fact that last week oil prices exceeded $US90 a barrel and could shortly hit $US100 a barrel, as predicted by the Director of the International Energy Agency, Claude Mandil, what impact does the Minister anticipate that this rise will have on the New South Wales economy in the short term and for the current budget in the long term? In light of the fact that Australia’s self-sufficiency in oil is forecast to decline significantly in coming years, with serious implications for our trade deficit, what is being done to oil-proof New South Wales?
The Hon. Robert Brown: This will be a slick answer.
The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: That was a slick question. The Greens have an obsession with peak oil. Supposedly, we have reached a point where oil has peaked and we are heading on the downward part of the curve, like the Federal Government. The headlines in today’s Daily Telegraph state, “Howard facing obliteration.” That means we will not have one conservative government anywhere in Australia.
The Hon. Charlie Lynn: They have been saying that for three elections.
The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: We have economically responsible governments but they are not conservative: members must understand the difference. Conservatives are different to economic reformers, which is what the Labor Party has. Let me give members an example of that. We wanted to globalise. We deregulated the financial system and the Coalition opposed it. That is the difference between economic reformers and conservatives. Members opposite are conservatives; they do not want to do anything.
The Hon. Duncan Gay: Stop talking to your Coalition partners!
The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: The Greens clearly do not understand-
The Hon. Duncan Gay: Address the Chair.
The Hon. MICHAEL COSTA: Let me focus on the Greens for a moment. The Greens clearly do not understand economic and technological development. They are obsessed with finding some argument that will undermine a system that they find abhorrent, that is, our modern capitalist system. They do not understand that, if we allow market forces to operate, we will get the appropriate changes through pricing signals. Let me make a point that I have made on many occasions: there will be a technological solution to our current energy requirements. Let me explain this clearly to the Greens. The Stone Age did not end because we ran out of stones; it ended because we found a new technology. The Iron Age did not end because we ran out of iron and the hydrocarbon age will not end because we run out of hydrocarbons.
There will be technological evolution, growth and sophistication. If we add that into market signals, economies will continue to grow. Let me make another point. The Greens are so silly they do not realise that the oil price was higher when the Australian dollar was lower. In fact, if we look at oil prices in Australian dollar terms, we find that we have not reached a peak price. The Greens do not understand global economics or technological development. They are more suited to the Stone Age but, unfortunately, the rest of the human race has moved on.
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