In a recent article in Grist Magazine, David Roberts observes that the peak oil argument so often cited by environmentalists probably won’t convince the world’s majority to move towards renewables.  Roberts suggests that “A much more natural, predictable reaction would be to push like mad for more drilling and for more coal gasification.”

However, there are compelling arguments beyond the classic and debatable “peak oil” litany that has been the environmentalist mantra since the early 1970’s.  Supply security remains at the top of the laundry list for most politicians and analysts working in the energy sector.  A number of system perturbations have revealed the fragile nature of an energy grid that has too many single points of potential failure.

The most recent of these was Hurricane Katrina, a disaster that left millions of homes, businesses, and hospitals without power for weeks on end, and so disrupted the country’s supply of cheap energy that the President was forced to tap into the nation’s strategic reserve.

An enormous portion of the world’s remaining oil reserves are located in some of the most politically unstable regions of the world.  Oil and other fossil fuel reserves have been the cause of coups, wars, and other glaring foreign policy failures around the world.  In Nigeria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and Bolivia, time and again the common citizen has fallen victim in the race to secure the profits and power inherent in the world’s remaining energy reserves.

And let us not forget the looming reality of global warming, a process with the potential to wreak havoc that is, at present, beyond human comprehension.

The development of decentralized, renewable, carbon neutral forms of energy makes sense for many reasons beyond the narrow scare tactic of “peak oil”.  It is now the responsibility of the environmental movement to redefine itself in these terms, and to frame the debate in a common sense fashion that makes sense to everyone.

Renewable, distributed energy has the potential to provide the world with a supply that is stable, secure, and clean.  Nobody said it would be easy to reach the tipping point on renewables, but how we frame the debate may very well make the difference in the long run.

For a similar take on this issue, check out this article in sustainablog.