I don’t think there is one “band aid’ solution; I think the answers will have to come from the implementation of a number of ideas.

Peak oil is only one symptom of a larger problem of an economic system requiring unsustainable levels of consumption. It’s not just peak oil, it’s peak everything, including peak stress to our ecosystems, which is evidenced by the mass extinction event going on around us.

The only realistic solution is to address the root cause of unsustainable over-consumption of resources, not the symptom of us no longer having enough energy to continue the problem!

End offshore drilling and let the market make the necessary corrections in our consumption lifestyle. The sooner we do, the less prolonged and dire the negative effects of the REAL problem will be.

BTW, there will still be “an economy,” just a healthier, less centralized one.

What part of Peak Oil and mobilization don’t you understand?

So no, Chris, we won’t be spending $100 billion per year on rail until prices force that change, in which case the rail companies will be flush enough with cash to make the changes themselves. That’s how the private market-based system works. And it will work, though primarily through demand destruction.

And don’t worry. We won’t shut down oil exploration in the Gulf. We’ll just adopt rules like the Brazilians for drilling safety, and probably require some kind of catastrophe fund contributions from companies carrying out drilling. I.e., we’ll allow drilling, but make it much more expensive. Again, a good thing, since that’s part of where the price signal will come from to force people to change.