[Riot]

It is absolutely that black and white in the near term. A sudden decrease in the supply of oil will cause an equally sudden rise in the price, since the demand is relatively constant.

Did you even read what I wrote before you answered? I said: "We need to use our oil for gasoline for cars, and develop other greener sources for the rest of our uses."

That demand is of course due to the fact that our cars are designed to run on gasoline, and that form of demand will take quite a while to change, even when a viable alternative is available. It is not currently available.

Were you aware there are a good number of mass-produced, affordable, good hybrid cars available right now?

Over the long term, probably decades, yeah, there is likely to be a superior fuel alternative in most regards, and will render oil-based fuels obsolete.

I am not saying to get rid of oil, I am saying to decrease our use of it in non-transportation uses. There are plenty of viable alternatives available right now, and we have to embrace them, make them ever more affordable and available.

But we have a long way to go to get there, and it starts with an invention or discovery that government action cannot accelerate.

Saying government can't accelerate R & D seems to fly in the face of history. It's not that long a way. Tax credits for alternative fuel uses, approval of nuclear power plants, credits for decreasing one's energy useage, tax credits for R & D into new technology, etc. all have worked in the past - and currently work - to encourage research and development in alternative fuel sources.

I think the problem with alternative fuel is that there seems to be both a lack of education about them, and lack of will to consider embracing them.