Der Spiegel is reporting that a secret Germany military report that was leaked online claims peak oil has happened or will happen this year, and this could threaten the continued survival of democratic governments. The report from a German Military think-tank cautions that disappearing global oil supplies will endanger the world's economic foundations and possibly lead to mass-scale upheaval over the next 15 to 30 years. International trade would be devastated as the cost of transporting goods across oceans would increase, resulting in "shortages in the supply of vital goods." When Peak Oil hit the United States in the early 1970s, it radically transformed this nation from an oil exporter to an oil importer and began the long-term process of our shoveling trillions of dollars to the Saudis and other oil-exporting nations. Jimmy Carter tried to do something about it, but Ronald Reagan's election put an end to our energy conservation and green energy efforts, killing the early solar industry. Now, as today's news talks of food shortages around the world and much of America's food is imported in oil-fueled ships, Americans are increasingly becoming concerned that Republicans and the oil industry are blocking any efforts whatsoever to move us to alternative fuels.