Ever heard of Daniel Yergin? To put it simply he has consistently been on the wrong side of the peak oil debate. He has been wrong time and again in regards to the price and future availability of oil as well as in his cheerleading for oil-based social development. He is a part of an auto/oil industry that has actively deceived the public in regards to climate change and resource availability.

In honor of him, July 13, 2006 which was the first day to see markets cross $76 for a barrel of crude has been named Daniel Yergin day. Even better, Yergin’s prediction of $38 per barrel of oil for November 2005 will be remembered as a new unit of in terms of oil trade. $38 is now 1 Yergin. So, as of this week, oil is trading at over 2 Yergins.

For the details check this article by Jeffery Brown over at the Energy Bulletin:

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) – The front-month futures contract climbed past $76 a barrel Thursday for the first time ever on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with August crude touching $76.30 and last trading at $76.21, up $1.26.

In regard to efforts to deny the reality of Peak Oil, I have previously described what I call the “Iron Triangle,” which I define as: (1) most auto, housing and finance companies; (2) most of the mainstream media and (3) most major oil companies, major oil exporters and the energy analysts that work for the major oil companies and major oil exporters.

In my opinion, the Iron Triangle has a vested interest in denying the reality of Peak Oil, and they are, in effect, working together to encourage Americans to continue buying large vehicles, in order to continue driving large distances to and from large mortgages.

…in a column in Forbes Magazine, published on 11/1/04, Daniel Yergin, in response to a question about the future direction of oil prices, dismissed concerns about oil supplies and asserted that oil prices on 11/1/05 would be at $38 per barrel. Note that oil prices exceeded $60 in the summer of 2005, prior to the hurricanes.

In my opinion, Mr. Yergin serves as an excellent symbol of the major oil company/major oil exporter/energy analyst group. And since oil prices are now trading at close to $76 per barrel–twice Mr. Yergin’s prediction–I hereby designate July 13, 2006 as “Daniel Yergin Day,” in honor of Mr. Yergin’s continued efforts to, in effect, persuade Americans to continue driving large debt financed vehicles, on long commutes to and from large mortgages.

One of the little ironies about the Peak Oil debate is that it is those who are trying their best to warn Americans about the dangers posed by Peak Oil—Matt Simmons; Colin Campbell; Kenneth Deffeyes; Boone Pickens, Jim Kunstler etc.–who are most often blamed for rising oil prices. I think that it is just the opposite. It seems logical to me that those who are asserting that we have plentiful supplies of oil are doing far more to encourage consumption–and thus higher oil prices–than those who are asserting that we have problems with oil supplies.

If you believe Matt Simmons, et al, about the future direction of energy prices, you will drastically reduce your overall consumption, especially your energy consumption, by living in a small energy efficient home, close to where you work–which would ideally allow you to walk or take mass transit to work, or at least result in a short commute.

In my opinion, it is those who are telling us that Peak Oil is decades away–such as ExxonMobil, Opec and Yergin–who are most responsible for, in effect, encouraging Americans to continue driving $50,000 SUV’s on 50 mile roundtrips to and from $500,000 mortgages in the suburbs.

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