Have We Underestimated the Imminence of Peak Oil?

If you don't know what peak oil is, it represents the point at which oil production will reach (or has reached) its maximum. Peak oil is often described as "the end of cheap oil" because while demand continues to grow, supply remains the same. Until recently, the peak's exact timing has been highly debated, and results have been widely inconclusive. However, the International Energy Agency (IEA) just published the 2010 version of their World Energy Outlook (WEO), which states that peak oil has already occurred.

Peak oil occurred around 2006. Future oil demand necessitates the use of unconventional oil.

What can we do to make it better? The IEA recommends that in order to avoid both climate change AND devastatingly high oil prices,  we should eliminate subsidies and put a price on carbon.

"Getting the prices right, by phasing-out fossil-fuel subsidies, is the single most effective measure to cut energy demand" (IEA)