Open AccessPublic Health and Medicine in an Age of Energy Scarcity: The Case of Petroleum
Author(s) -
Brian S. Schwartz,
Cindy L. Parker,
Jeremy Hess,
Howard Frumkin
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
american journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.284
H-Index - 264
eISSN - 1541-0048
pISSN - 0090-0036
DOI - 10.2105/ajph.2010.205187
Subject(s) - scarcity , public health , petroleum , natural resource economics , peak oil , production (economics) , action (physics) , business , health care , climate change , economics , environmental health , public economics , economic growth , medicine , market economy , microeconomics , paleontology , ecology , physics , nursing , quantum mechanics , biology
Petroleum supplies have heretofore been abundant and inexpensive, but the world petroleum production peak is imminent, and we are entering an unprecedented era of petroleum scarcity. This fact has had little impact on policies related to climate, energy, the built environment, transportation, food, health care, public health, and global health. Rising prices are likely to spur research and drive efficiency improvements, but such innovations may be unable to address an increasing gap between supply and demand. The resulting implications for health and the environment are explored in the articles we have selected as additional contributions in this special issue. Uncertainty about the timing of the peak, the shape of the production curve, and decline rates should not delay action. The time for quick, decisive, comprehensive action is now.