The Oil Drum

I was pondering the recent Russian-Ukraine Natgas Crisis when a sudden 'Eureka' moment slowly crawled across my beer-addled synaptic structures.

What if Putin was given a covert blessing by the G8 leadership to temporarily yank the Ukrainians into the short-lived crisis?

The short-lived natgas shutoff sure got the attention of the Media and the general public across Europe. Could this be a 'stealthy' way to get people aware of Peakoil and maybe Dieoff? Then the politicians can more widely discuss required Thermo-Gene mitigation changes without fear of being voted out for re-election. Recall that Putin's theme is ENERGY for his next year as the G8 conference chairperson. Could he just be preparing the unwashed masses for some harsh, but true news in the near future? Maybe with all these world leaders gathered in one spot is when they will announce that we are Hubbert Downslope bound!

Increasing Peakoil awareness has historically been a grassroots effort and overcoming public denial our biggest barrier to rapid Peaknik growth because they have seen us as 'nutcases'.  Politicians have been historically reluctant to take the Peakoil lead because of worries that the voters still in denial would see them as nutcases too, and not re-elect them.  Purposely creating a temporary energy crisis and public alarm will allow the politicians to safely endorse the experts adding public-perceived legitimacy to Peakoil-- it is a subtle way to quickly increase the required public 'critical mass' for positive change to occur.  In summary, it bridges the public-to-politician gap.

Does this make sense, or was it just my beer talking?

Bob Shaw in Phx,AZ  Are Humans Smarter than Yeast?