We are approaching, or may even have already passed, the point known as "Peak Oil." This is the moment when we will have passed the "halfway" mark in extracting oil from the earth. Oil won't have run out, but it will begin to get a lot more expensive.

Industrial societies and their financial systems were built on the assumption of ever more readily available cheap fossil fuels. Reaching "peak oil" will have huge political, economic, and cultural implications.

See The Energy Bulletin's Peak Oil Primer and The Community Solution's The Problem for more information.