The country is not running out either. There's enough natural gas to last beyond 65 years -- much longer than oil, according to the best forecasts.

What forecasts are those???  How many more years do we have to go before anyone in the MSM realizes there are geologic limits to fossil fuel extraction??

Mainstream, establishment intellectuals; whether they be economists, scientists, journalists, commentators, or polititians, have a awful lot invested in the kind of societies we live in. So much of their prestige, position and power, is based on a civilization founded on abundent, cheap, and easy energy. Psychologically, ideologically, and not least, economically they have a great deal to lose, if Peak Oil is real, and the end of the "Age of Expansion" is nigh. Therefore, asking or expecting them to embrace change on such a scale, is, perhaps, less then realistic.

Of course there are notable exceptions; Will Hutton's article is excellent. There's also George Monbiot and many others. But, as yet, those with a contrary view are "voices crying in the wilderness." This is likely to change though, as the 'reality' of Peak Oil rears it's ugly head, and can no longer be ignored. Whether there will be enough of such voices, and whether enough people will hear them, and whether any action will be taken, like confronting existing power-structures, is as they say, another question entirely.

The above mentioned groups remind me of the French aristocracy and the incredible lifestyle they had at the palace of Versailles. A glorious, sheltered, and luxurious community - almost a world-within-a-world. For themselves they created a kind of paradise on earth, supported by staff of 50,000. There was lots of food, intrigue, gossip, sex, music, tension, excitement, and fun. The aristocracy knew very little about the lives of the vast majority of the population; which before the age of cheap/easy energy, provided the foundation opon which the whole, glittering edifice of Versaille was built. Like us, they we unaware of just how fragile their lifestyle actually was, and how brittle and delicate.

When one has this kind of lifestyle and has only known this kind of lifestyle; it becomes "reality" and is "natural." The idea of losing it, is insane and non-negotiable. Expecting such an aristocracy to recognise, accept, and institute fundamental social/economic reforms, of an almost "revolutionary" nature; is simply asking too much of mere mortals, in my opinion. Unfortunately, I don't think people in situations like this are capable, or able, to initiate these kinds of massive, institutional, changes.

Will our "aristocracy" do any better? I don't really know. I have my doubts, I really do. The rich and powerful have often, as a social group, shown an extraordinary ability, not to "see" the changes happening in the world around them - until it was too late. Here, one can sometimes feel something close to nostaligia or even sadness. It's a melancholy feeling, knowing what needs to be done, but not have the power to impliment anything. It's also a miserable thought, that we may even have reached the "too late" position already, and when the mainstream finally begins to take action on Peak Oil, we may even be battling against the inevitable collapse of our way of life and tilting at windmills. But, I suppose that's marginally better than just passively, negatively, and cynically accepting our fate. Surely, some of us at least, will choose to cling to our humanity and civilised values, and boldly face down the reality of barbarians at the gate. And I suppose, paradoxically, that doesn't make us all that different from the aristocrats in Versaille, does it?