Experts are taking heed at Shell Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer’s statement that the world is running out of cheap oil.

Here is what van der Veer writes about the two new future energy scenarios that have been developed by the Shell corporation:

“We are experiencing a step-change in the growth rate of energy demand due to rising population and economic development. After 2015, easily accessible supplies of oil and gas probably will no longer keep up with demand. The future will be either a scramble for resources or a cautious, well-planned ride into a changing future.”

Given the absurd profits Shell and its industry counterparts are making, it is the clearest acknowledgment of the reality of peak oil, and should sound alarms throughout Washington and everyday Americans, too.

Says the group Climate Progress: “The oil company with the best strategic planning says the day of reckoning is nigh.” Indeed. The question is, who has the best plan to do something about it?

As we’ve learned from years of inactivity from government officials, talk is cheap when it comes to climate change.

State of the Union rhetoric is one thing, curbing carbon emissions and developing alternate energy sources quite another.

Presidential candidate Tom Vilsack offered a plan Tuesday to ween the nation off of fossil fuels and roll back greenhouse gas emissions to a fraction of current levels.

The former Iowa governor, who has tried to get Barack Obama to debate him in an attempt to gain greater exposure, said he would force new power plants to emit no carbon dioxide — one of the greenhouse gases blamed for rising earth temperatures — by 2020.

Vilsack said as president he would cap U.S. carbon dioxide emissions and create a credit-trading program to meet the cap.

“Energy security is the single most important issue facing America today,” Vilsack said.

“It affects us every minute of every day. It affects our health, our personal finances, our economy and our quality of life.”

Among his proposals was a 75 percent reduction in greenhouse gases produced by the United States by 2050, principally through a mandatory “cap and trade” program among businesses and other institutions.

President George W. Bush made a similar pledge to cap carbon emissions in his 2000 campaign, but broke it in 2001 after getting elected.

Bush continues to oppose mandatory emission caps, arguing that industry through development of new alternative energy technology can deal with the problem at a lesser cost.

We applaud Vilsack’s devotion to this monumentally important issue, but worry that his campaign will never gain the momentum needed to bring it enough attention. Anyone seen Al Gore lately?

[Cartoon above by Linda Eddy, courtesy of Iowapresidentialwatch.com. Follow the link to view many more of her creations.]

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in his State of the State address Tuesday, assumed the role of director of “post-partisanship,” outlining an ambitious political agenda that will prove complex, costly, and extremely difficult, but promises big results in critical areas from health care to the environment.

As perhaps only he can (at least without widespread ridicule), the Governator defined the task before him as epic in proportions, urging that the challenge be accepted because the Golden State is “the modern equivalent of the ancient city-states of Athens and Sparta” - the epicenter of the ideas and strength needed to deliver a brighter future.

The governor’s lofty goals emerged just months after a campaign in which many Californians wondered which Schwarzenegger might emerge for a full term:

• The brash, hard-core conservative who called Democrats “girlie men” and publicly engaged the all-powerful teachers union in a battle (he lost)
• The social progressive who helped deliver landmark legislation on global warming and increased the minimum wage.

The answer this week seemed to suggest something for every audience: He pushed to reduce greenhouse gases and expand health care - both signature Democratic issues - while proposing to increase water storage and to reduce welfare spending, proposals sure to appeal more to Republicans.

Arnold the Collaborator has officially arrived.

For all the criticism over his spending cuts, Schwarzegger appears ready to champion aggressive environmental policy. California shall soon create the world’s first global warming pollution standard for transportation fuels, ratcheting down fuel carbon content 10 percent by 2020, he vowed.

The new standard could have implications for the auto industry and change the way gasoline is produced around the globe. Environmentalists hailed it as a way to reduce one of the state’s chief sources of greenhouse gas emissions and kick-start fledgling alternative fuel technologies.

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