The Oil Drum

The Greens here in Aus know what's happening.

Check out:
http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/S9230.pdf

The entire inquiry can be found here: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/rrat_ctte/oil_supply/index.htm

And the recommendations are here: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senate/committee/rrat_ctte/oil_supply/report/a03.h...

If anybody is going to lobby poli's the ones who were in attendance for this committee might be a good place to start. Although I suppose we'll have to see what happens at the election...

Here's ASPO Australia's press release in response. http://www.aspo-australia.org.au/media/News_release0207.doc

My fear is that this Senate report will be tabled and then gather dust, like the Hirsch report did in the US. There is an interesting quote in the Hansard where Senator Milne states the conundrum that I think all politicians who are aware of the problem have to ponder;

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Senator MILNE—This is the crux of the political dilemma: there is hardly a politician alive who is going to go out and say to people with rising oil prices, ‘We’re going to take away the subsidies.’ The popular response is to promise to give more subsidies going into an election—to subsidise more exploration, to subsidise this, to subsidise that, to maintain the diesel fuel rebate, to subsidise petrol prices. Just last year in the Senate there was a proposal to subsidise petrol at the time that the price was going up. Is it an appropriate response to maintain these subsidies? If it is not, what is the appropriate response?
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In the Senate Hansard on 8th Feb they do not even bother to count the votes as the legislation goes down in flames on the Senate floor.

http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/work/journals/jnlp_129.pdf

ENVIRONMENT.OIL DEPLETION PROTOCOL Senator Milne, pursuant to notice of motion not objected to as a formal motion, moved general business notice of motion no. 700.That the Senate.
(a) notes:
(i) that the Marrickville Council in Sydney has adopted the Oil Depletion Protocol which seeks to address the impact of peak oil by steadily reducing oil usage, and
(ii) the council will reduce its oil usage by 3 per cent per year; and
(b) calls on the Government:
(i) to adopt the Oil Depletion Protocol to reduce Australia.s dependence on oil and ensure an orderly restructure of the economy and society for the post-oil era, and
(ii) encourage state and local governments to adopt the protocol and reduce oil usage.

Question put and negatived.