Many of the products we are accustomed to using every day are manufactured using oil as a raw material, or ingredient.

These include products such as roofing paper, heart valves, crayons, parachutes, telephones, bras, transparent tape, antiseptics, purses, deodorant, panty hose, air conditioners, shower curtains, shoes, volleyballs, electrician's tape, floor wax, lipstick, synthetic clothing, running shoes, bubble gum, car bodies, tires, house paint, hair dryers, pens, ammonia, eyeglasses, contacts, insect repellent, fertilizers, hair coloring, movie film, ice chests, loudspeakers, fiberglass, basketballs, footballs, combs/brushes, linoleum, fishing rods, rubber boots, water pipes, motorcycle helmets, fishing lures, petroleum jelly, lip balm, antihistamines, golf balls, dice, insulation, trash bags, rubber cement, cold cream, umbrellas, inks of all types, paint brushes, hearing aids, compact discs, mops, bandages, artificial turf, cameras, glue, shoe polish, caulking, tape recorders, stereos, plywood adhesives, toilet seats, car batteries, candles, refrigerator seals, carpet, cortisone, vaporizers, solvents, nail polish, denture adhesives, balloons, boats, dresses, shirts (non-cotton), perfumes, toothpaste, plastic forks, hair curlers, plastic cups, electric blankets, oil filters, floor wax, Ping-Pong paddles, dishwashing liquid, water skis, upholstery, chewing gum, thermos bottles, plastic chairs, plastic wrap, rubber bands, computers, gasoline, diesel fuel, kerosene, heating oil, asphalt, motor oil, jet fuel, marine diesel, and butane. We bet you could name more. In fact, there are more than 500,000 products that use oil or oil by-products as an ingredient in their production.

Obviously, the inability of oil production to meet demand will raise the costs of fuel. But when the price of oil increases, virtually every sector of the economy is affected in some way; whether it is the shortage of the raw material in manufacturing goods such as those above, the costs of transporting those goods to the market, storage in climate-controlled facilities, the machinery used in construction of those facilities or structures of any kind, most fertilizers and pesticides used to maintain production yields in agriculture, and a list of other dependencies that is longer than is practical to note here. But that is only the beginning of the impacts that such a situation will have on our society. The resulting “domino effects” will generate enormous price increases across the board for all products and services in existence, making a significant number of them economically impractical. And while the lack of oil supplies will affect the manufacture or availability of all of these products and services, the product which will likely be impacted the most will be food.

Significantly, global population growth is only sustainable through dependency on the infrastructure provided by cheap oil. Oil-based agriculture is primarily responsible for the world’s population exploding from 1.5 billion at the middle of the 19th century to 6.4 billion at the beginning of the 21st. As oil production increased, so did food production. As food production increased, so did the population. As the population grew, the demand for food escalated, which increased the demand for oil. Today, 95% of all the energy used by the agriculture industry to produce, store, and transport food comes from oil; from tractors to harvesters to irrigation pumps, energy for storage, and the trucking and flying of those foods to market. In the US, on average, a piece of food now travels 1,400 miles before it ends up on your plate.

How will shortages and prices of oil affect you and your family? What about affects on your community? How do you think shortages and prices will affect industry and the economy?

The most important message in all of this is that the decline in oil production will not be temporary. This will be a permanent, worsening condition. Once the peak has been reached, there will never again be enough oil produced to supply the needs of our current oil-based society. A massive change in the existence of humanity is imminent.

Are you ready?

Submitted by Peter Lunsford © 2007, Petraworld