[xrange]

>not that the world ends

Lexcorvus and I apparently have similar memories, because my recollection is that all the articles discussing peak oil had a mandatory section predicting the eminent demise of Western Civilization (and quite a large percentage were giddy at the notion).

[vonmoltke]

IIRC, the fearmongering was based on the idea that the world's consumption of oil was continuously increasing. Thus, if supply stopped increasing Bad Things would happen because it would put the brakes on society.

[Dylan16807]

That's just journalism being journalism. Plus, it was harder to see what could replace a significant fraction of oil before solar and battery prices dropped so much, and uncertainty and lack-of-planning is worth some worry.