Steve LeVine at Foreign Policy discusses a near-term scenario that Big Oil deems all too plausible:
Royal Dutch/Shell says that in 2020, energy supplies will be so tight that they will tip the world into a full-blown crisis in which governments will force their populations to reduce driving, use less electricity, and pay an extremely steep increase for what they do consume. There will be a massive, decade-long economic slowdown, and geopolitical power will shift dramatically to energy-producing nations, the company says. Shell's forecasts, contained in a thought-provoking report on its view of the world through 2050, are based on current economic and energy-use patterns around the world. In previous weeks, we've heard almost identical energy-consumption projections from ExxonMobil (here is Exxon's neat slide show) and BP -- the world will use about 40 percent more energy by 2030.
For those more inclined to worry about global warming, there's plenty ...
