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So really the best thing to do is leave things alone until oil becomes scarce (i.e. expensive) and an alternative will be developed. Best thing to do for whom?
by blehn 16y ago
So really the best thing to do is leave things alone until oil becomes scarce (i.e. expensive) and an alternative will be developed.
Best thing to do for whom? You're saying that if we continue to find oil for 300 more years, we just keep burning it? That seems pretty awful. The technology has already been developed (Denmark, for instance, is getting a quarter of it's electricity from wind power)--why wait?
I'd argue that the best thing to do would be to rapidly transition to the cleaner, more renewable sources of energy that already exist (wind, water, sun, even natural gas) while drastically altering lifestyles to reduce the need for such massive amounts of energy. Maybe the economy (stock market) get's screwed up for a little while, but hell, it's already screwed up, right?
Any attempt to legislate conservation will just result in us burning more oil for longer.
How so?
- jsz0 16y agoif we continue to find oil for 300 more years, we just keep burning it? Someone will, absolutely. First world nations will have the wealth and access to innovations to convert to cleaner energy but the poor majority of the world will increasingly create the demand. Oil is too easy and efficient to just ignore. As I see it the only options to stop this would be to build clean energy sources for the entire world which seems nearly impossible, destroy or prevent access to the remaining oil sources, or occupy and repress these poor countries to actively prevent them from burning oil. The later two options would almost certainly start World War 3. The first option is ideal but not very realistic. We are OK letting these same people die due to lack of basic medical care and clean water. What are the chances we help them convert to clean energy? Without some massive global catastrophe to change the game letting the oil run out is the most peaceful and realistic approach in my opinion.