Interesting article in this month's Atlantic, based on the idea that shale gas and methane hydrate discoveries (yeah, I never heard of methane hydrate as a potential fuel source before either) push the forced end of the fossil fuel era (by running out) out into the indefinite future.
Their conclusions in a nutshell: great for the world economy; potentially politically destabilizing for the OPEC countries and Russia; potentially terrible for the prospects of getting global warming under control.
It's an interesting piece, whether or not you agree with any of it. I hate to say it, but the idea that if there is a whole new source of energy whose only downside is global warming, I'm not sure if we--globally--will have the self discipline to stop adding net CO2 to the atmosphere.
