Reserve reservations.

• Author: Black, Caren
• Position: Letter to the editor

What an intriguing issue! It seems the world does have its problems, but nothing that switching to soy-based ink won't cure. For example, one of your quoted experts, Red Cavaney in this case, cites U.S. "undiscovered reserves" at 131 billion barrels.

Recipe for undiscovered reserves: Open a 9x12 inch manila envelope. Grab a handful of paper clips and toss them inside. Seal the envelope. Deliver the sealed envelope to a co-worker on another floor and have her tell you how many paper clips are inside.

Maybe Mr. Cavaney got help from [ESP researcher] Karl Zener with his estimated total, because U.S. oil companies were not so psychic. Despite a 60-percent drilling increase in 2001, they gained only a 2-percent increase in output. But let's say Mr. Cavaney's clairvoyance is on the money. He also stated that the world could last until 2030 without running out of oil. But the United States currently uses 20 million barrels per day. If we could bring all of Mr. Cavaney's 131 billion barrels online tomorrow (instead of the six years it takes to go online after discovery), they would last us 6,550 days, or nearly 18 years, which would be 2023, not 2030. And that's assuming current rates of consumption, meaning that the only way to grow the economy would be to completely offset growth with efficiency so as to keep consumption steady, as well as the ability to...