[jyl]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

One other really, really important thing to consider:

the oil industry is a HUUUUUGE revenue generator for the gubmint, one of the biggest cash cows they have. It pays for most of our infrastructure.

When you factor in ALL the fees, taxes, regulations and other shenanigans, close to half of the $$$ we spend at the pumps ends up in the gubmint coffers.
There's no need for asphalt if you don't have any money to fix the roads.

Take away a big part of that revenue and they'll have to get it somewhere else.
Logic tells us that they'll have to double the cost of spark-tricity and then some.
Then they'll triple of the cost of natural gas, institute a road use tax per miles regardless of what you drive, etc.
No free lunches here.

This would bother me more if we’re talking about oil going away in a few years. Since we’re actually looking at oil volumes declining a percent or two a year - at most! - none of this concerns me.