The International Energy Agency raised the alarm Wednesday with the release of its annual report, emphasizing that a revolution in the energy business is required to maintain economic growth and stabilize greenhouse gas emissions.
The IEA's World Energy Outlook 2008 report, written for policymakers, paints a troubling picture in terms of energy costs and global warming due to burning fossil fuels. It calls for "radical action" from governments at all levels and for a coordinated international response.
"Current trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable--environmentally, economically and socially--they can and must be altered," Nobuo Tanaka, the IEA's executive director, said at the release of the report.
Although softening demand has pushed the price for oil down recently, the rising cost of extraction, combined with declining productivity rates at oil fields, means that the "era of cheap oil is over," according to the ...