That oil-free life.

And you ain’t living it, Roscoe. Trust me. No matter what, if you are reading this, you are using oil. Now, I know, if you are living in a solar-powered cabin in the woods or maybe in an apartment in New York City, you might appear to not be using any oil. You don’t have a car, you don’t have a lawn mower. You, personally, don’t have to buy anything like oil or gasoline or any oil-like product. Or so you say. But you still use oil. That is, oil is used on your behalf. Oil is used to grow the food you eat and to get it close enough to you so that you can buy it. And you’d better believe that uses oil. Using electricity uses oil. (Making solar panels uses oil.) You even have to oil your bicycle chain from time to time, don’t you? I know I do.

Unless you are part of an indigenous tribe in the upper reaches of the Amazon or the Congo, you use oil. And even then, I have to wonder. Any contact with the outside world, and ta-da! You are using oil. Now, it’s true that as that oil starts to go away, you will use less oil, and less oil will be used on your behalf, but trust me on this one: You use oil. Even the Amish use oil, and they are about as oil-free as it gets in the first world. That’s what’s going to make this peak oil thing so very annoying. It’s going to mess with everyone – some more than others, but all us before it’s over. Peak oil is very democratic. Universal, you might say.

I own several gasoline-powered items. I do use electricity. I like to eat. I use oil. I know that the time will come when there will be less oil for me to use, so I plan accordingly, or at least try to tell myself that I do. Still, even I have to admit that it is very easy to just jump in the truck and go. Or turn on a light or get a quick bite to eat. And all of these things take oil. All of these things are why we use so very much oil in our day to day lives, even when we try not to. We just can’t help ourselves. Some day we’re going to have to scale back.

I hope you're ready.