Everyone knows that we are living on borrowed time, as far as our addiction to fossil fuel is concerned.

People may argue about exactly when ‘Peak Oil’ occurred (the historical peak of the global oil extraction curve) but there is wide agreement that we’d be well advised - as a species, as a nation, as a community and as an individual - to avoid over-dependency on oil, on Black Gold, and start to act as if we are entering a Post Oil Age.

I wonder how young people feel - when they hear ‘people in power’ celebrating that they have just struck another Oil find – one that will last us for at least another.. amazing ... er... 7 years!

In 50 years time we may, it’s true, have come up with some amazing new magic way of expending energy without consuming anything finite, and doing so without producing any ever-accumulating waste pile. But at the moment we haven’t, despite all our efforts. We are living on borrowed time. And guess who we are borrowing it from.

It’s been claimed that we have gotten through one quarter of our sensible precautionary carbon burn quota for the next 100 years (starting 2000) in just six years. What should have lasted us 25 years, we’ve burnt in 6. Good job the children won’t hold this against us, eh?

Bucks Free Press readers include a vocal few who would have us believe that carbon dioxide is no real problem for the health of the planet. It’s all a hoax, they say. You are free to believe them.

But wasting oil, or other finite fossil fuel - wasting the precious compact high-energy ‘ancient sunlight’ black gold substance that we have become so dependent on, for almost everything we do, when we know we can’t on doing so, is surely indefensible whatever you think the climate truth may be. Concern about my CO2 emissions provides me with one extra powerful moral reason to do the right thing and cut down on fossil energy abuse. Even if I believed the science wasn’t settled yet (it is believe me) it’s still the smart thing to do – to cut the carbon - at this point in history.

I think our species, and all my neighbours, are smart enough to recognise that getting back on our bikes is a clever, timely, inspiring and empowering ‘no-regrets’ thing to do. It feels good, does us good, and at the very least does no harm to the planet’s climate system. In the event of petrol shortages, we will be better prepared. We can leap back onto our bikes, self-reliant, self-confident and self-powered. After all, the fastest way to get from A to B in a fossil constrained world is with the most fossil efficient transport. Ferrari’s are not so fast with empty tanks. With only one gallon to go on, the Mini gets there twice as fast as the Maserati.

Next Saturday, the 24th October, is an important day. It’s a day when we can proudly say, by our actions, that we are part of the natural solution, and not part of the carbon problem. We can dust off the cobwebs (both our lungs and on our bikes!) and remember the joy of pedal power. We can participate in a positive peaceful movement and cycle into the sunset of the Oil Era together.

Come wind and rain, I wouldn’t miss a day like that – not for the World.