Why 2006 could see another oil spike

Many people would describe 2005 as 'an ugly year for energy markets,' says Justice Litle on Whiskey & Gunpowder. But the truth is, things could have been so much worse - and 2006 has just begun...

In his groundbreaking work, Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge, noted biologist Edward O. Wilson takes up the measure of what man has learned so far. Imagine a freewheeling conversation with a brilliant scientific mind, touching on everything from the Enlightenment to the arts. Wilson speaks to humanity's future, as well as its past; the final chapters of the book are devoted to ecology and the environment. Consider this foreboding bit of insight:

'Humankind is like a household living giddily off vanishing capital. Exemptionalists are risking a lot when they advise us, in effect, that 'Life is good and getting better, because look around you, we are still expanding and spending faster. Don't worry about next year. We're such a smart bunch something will turn up. It always has.

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