Well, finally Leanan has presented herself in a form other than just print. Now we all know your true identity, Leanan!

Cheers, Dom

Europeans are more aware of environmental issues in general, including peak oil. There are at least three elements to this:

(1) We didn't have the same degree of suburban development and middle-class flight to the suburbs. In most European countries, the decision-makers (business, political, and media) still live and work in old city centres where the environmental impact of private cars was most visible. The needs of public transport frequently clashed with the needs of drivers, and often the public transport won.

(2) Europe didn't have an "oil rush" like in Texas or Oklahoma. We've always been aware that it's a foreign import, with the small and relatively recent exception of North Sea oil.

(3) Our state-run television channels, free from the pressures of advertisers, tend to discuss environmental issues more than on US tv. Environmental actions are portrayed as normal behaviour and not just the preserve of radical eco-hippies.

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"a mostly older male and perhaps somewhat, erm, geeky set of spokespeople"
Well I'm only 28, but my friends say I was born 40. Definitely geeky too! (and male)

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If young people aren't interested in Peak Oil, it's because we have bigger things to worry about. Finding a job, a career, a partner, settling down, paying off the mortgage on a tiny apartment or townhouse, getting the kids into a good school, paying the bills. Until all that is sorted, we can't even consider doing the whole survivalist thing with a small farm etc. Peak Oil to us means just buying the smallest car possible or taking public transport instead. High fuel taxes and high parking costs (in Europe) already push us in the right direction.