Pacific Standard magazine, the award-winning publication of the Miller-McCune Center for Research, Media and Public Policy, is bringing two of its esteemed journalists to Antioch University this Thursday to discuss the potential impact of new, surprising sources of fossil fuel at home and abroad.

Lisa Margonelli, author of Oil on the Brain: Petroleum’s Long, Strange Trip to Your Tank, and Pacific Standard editor Vince Beiser will be joined by UC Santa Barbara geochemist David Valentine, whose research includes looking at the aftermath of offshore oil spills and whose lab has explored field sites from Alaska to southern Chile.

Michael Todd, a staff writer at Pacific Standard, will moderate the conversation.

The discussion will center on how “peak oil” is being challenged by new sources of fossil fuels that are cropping up due to rapidly advancing technologies, from fracking fields to miles-deep offshore oil wells; tar sands to frozen gas on the ocean floor. Among the questions the panelists will address are:

» Do solar and wind power stand a chance anymore?

» Will colossal new sources of fossil fuels spur an economic bonanza or an environmental catastrophe?

» Who will benefit most (and least) in this new era of oil?

This free public event is co-sponsored by the UCSB Institute for Energy Efficiency as part of its Summit on Energy Efficiency. It is the first in Santa Barbara’s 2013 First Thursday series, a program highlighting downtown arts, culture and entertainment. Antioch University is located at the corner of Anacapa and Cota streets in Santa Barbara. Alma Sol, a micro-boutique winery, will be serving wine.

— Geane deLima represents the Miller-McCune Center.