<P> The US Department of Energy in the Hirsch report indicates that "The problems associated with world oil production peaking will not be temporary, and past' energy crisis' experience will provide relatively little guidance ." </P> <P> To avoid the serious social and economic implications a global decline in oil production could entail, the 2005 Hirsch report emphasized the need to find alternatives, at least ten to twenty years before the peak, and to phase out the use of petroleum over that time . Such mitigation could include energy conservation, fuel substitution, and the use of unconventional oil . Because mitigation can reduce the use of traditional petroleum sources, it can also affect the timing of peak oil and the shape of the Hubbert curve . </P> <P> Energy policy may be reformed leading to greater energy intensity, for example in Iran with the 2007 Gas Rationing Plan in Iran, Canada and the National Energy Program and in the USA with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 also called the Clean Energy Act of 2007 . Another mitigation measure is the setup of a cache of secure fuel reserves like the United States Strategic Petroleum Reserve, in case of national emergency . Chinese energy policy includes specific targets within their 5 - year plans . </P> <P> Andrew McKillop has been a proponent of a contract and converge model or capping scheme, to mitigate both emissions of greenhouse gases and a peak oil crisis . The imposition of a carbon tax would have mitigating effects on an oil crisis . The Oil Depletion Protocol has been developed by Richard Heinberg to implement a powerdown during a peak oil crisis . While many sustainable development and energy policy organisations have advocated reforms to energy development from the 1970s, some cater to a specific crisis in energy supply including Energy - Quest and the International Association for Energy Economics . The Oil Depletion Analysis Centre and the Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas examine the timing and likely effects of peak oil . </P>

Who brought attention to the energy crisis during the 1970s