Many of us have been exasperated by the antics of Just Stop Oil protesters. Now, I believe that these are well-meaning and committed to their cause and I am sure that they think that they are trying to save the planet in the best way they can think of – gain publicity, get people talking and influence politicians. But what would happen if we literally just stopped oil tomorrow and did without the natural resources on which the world, its economies and populations depend? The answer: most likely six billion people would die within a year.
I am going to assume the “oil” in Just Stop Oil means fossil fuels – so oil, gas and coal. I am also going to assume that we have today’s technological knowledge and infrastructure, so we are talking about stopping fossil fuels now, not at some unspecified time in the future.
Day 1 – no more mining of coal; the world’s oil wells shut down; the world’s gas fields likewise. The first to feel the change would be gas users.....................Day 365 – perhaps a further two billion people would have starved
or frozen to death, leaving, say, two billion left alive; remaining
food stocks would have been exhausted or spoiled, and the inevitable
breakdown of law and order would have meant many would meet a violent
end..................But what if they are wrong? It will be too late in ten years time to
suddenly stand up and say “Sorry, we got it wrong. Can we have some more
fossil fuels please?”...........To Read More.....
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