This Guy's on the Wrong Side of History
Seriously, I just watched this documentary, and feel really bad for this guy, as he's clearly suffering depression or paranoia or something, and he actually breaks down on camera.
Anyway, gloom-and-doomer predictions almost always fail (especially when it comes to pronouncements about technology, which is basically the whole oil debate), and this guy is no exception. His whole argument is basically this: oil = modern civilization. No oil? No modern civilization. He excludes ANY possibility of technological advancement or alternatives.
While I agree with him that current alternatives like solar, wind, etc, probably won't work, what about the alternatives that we can't even imagine yet? Just look through history: we went from man power to animal power. From animal power to steam power. From steam power to oil power. From oil power to nuclear power. From nuclear to...who knows? Technological progress is rapid and unpredictable, and no one living in those eras could see what was coming next. From his reasoning, a peak and drop off in the population of horses in the 14th century would have destroyed humanity.
Oh, and his comparison of a world without oil to North Korea and Cuba is ridiculous. The misery in those countries is the result of repressive and totalitarian regimes, not lack of oil. Case in point: the Amish. They live with far less than oil, and they're healthy and thriving.
I admit, peak oil could be devastating, but the world's not going to just give up if that happens. If anything, it would open up a huge void that the free markets would desperately clamor to fill, and that's where a lot of true advancement takes place. For all we know, it could be the best thing to happen to us. Rant over.