if correct, only point out the dangers of extrapolation.
Trends, no matter what the time line used to establish them, never
continue indefinitely into the future.
Budget planners (both repub and democrat) are notoriously bad at
this (5 years ago we were on a path to pay of the national debt
in 20 years, remember... and it's not just that GWB is in office).
In fact, it was those very same analysis that caused the repugs
to go ape shit over "giving Americans their money back" before the
government spent it like a drunken sailor. And before the surpluses
had actually materialized.
http://www.dallasfed.org/eyi/usecon/9908surplus.htmlNatural gas (no matter where it is found) is only slightly better
than coal or oil in terms of ecological impact. Drilling for it
in the Arctic (and I suppose the Antarctic) is probably not good
to the environment, and burning it, while "cleaner" than other
fossil fuels, is still going to produce greenhouse gasses... and
global warming is the largest problem that mankind has ever faced.
http://www.iclei.org/EFACTS/NATGAS.HTM