Here is a back-handed compliment if I ever heard one: http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11585&page=5 from the National Research Council

In light of this fact, it should be no surprise that the possibility that world oil production will soon reach a peak and then inexorably decline is a subject of great interest and intense debate. As noted by Dr. Greene, the “pessimists,” a somewhat pejorative label given to those who are convinced that the oil peak is imminent and that its consequences will be dire, assert that world oil supply is chiefly determined by the geology of oil resources.

The term "pessimist" has no meaning anymore. Can you still call a person who questioned the run-up of hedge funds and derivatives, not to mention the stock market for the last 10+ years, a pessimist without incurring any sense of shame? All the models in that world got built to advance one motive -- that of profit, brought about by no small part greed. No one really cared whether they made sense in some theoretical framework, and why should they, since human nature would constantly batter down the model's premises in search of escape clauses. This occurred all in the nature of one-upping the next guy ... in a zero-sum game of zero-summed optimism.
http://mobjectivist.blogspot.com/2008/11/comprehensive-oil-depletion-mod...