Originally Posted by retx

10-40 years is a very broad range. id like to see what numbers youre reading, but i guess thats equal to the 20 years im aware of. my girlfriend is a petroleum geologist here in houston. my findings arent just based on some blog i read online or the doe website. theres hard evidence that with the given increase in demand, both locally and globally, that we are living in peak oil and there is no turning back. we can not make the oil refill itself. we have to move forward on alternative energy. and not just for our cars. california is already in an energy crisis, colorado produces a lot of energy for california. west virginia has windmills in tucker county for new jersey and pennsylvania. we are beyond the need for alternative energy. coal, coalbed methane, tar/oil sands of canada, liquid, natural gas, etc,.....all of these are in very limited supply given the global demand for increased energy. we will see the effects in our lifetime. dont count on anwr, it hasnt come online and may not ever produce what big oil wants it to. look at prudhoe bay. we have an infrastucture in place for a depleting resource. its going to be a long and expensive road, but we have to work on replacing/augmenting that infrastructure before we can claim energy independence.