[techweenie]

Some pretty lazy thinking from the usual sources.

Oil is expensive, it helps create $500 billion problems. Spills damage the food supply.

Oil will fall out of favor around the world as soon as technology leads the way away from it -- hopefully American technology. About 2 dozen cities around the world have already banned IC engines from their city cores.

Oil is a form of energy that carries with it risks to human and other health. So oil *is* killing us.

Unfortunately, most alternative forms of energy also carry risks. Even electricity, while not locally polluting, produces *remote pollution* unless it's solar -- a weak source with current technology, and kinetic (like wind) which is not entirely predictable. Fission's problems are extreme -- most power plants are net energy *losers* -- and disposal of byproducts is a classic NIMBY problem. As Superman points out, fusion answers a lot of these problems, but again, nobody has found a way to manage andcontain it.

Hydrogen fuel cells aren't the instant panacea we thorught 3-4 years ago, but are evolving into viable alternatives in many applications.

I believe we'll get ourselves weaned from oil, but it will be a gradual process -- hopefully driven ultimately by consumer demand rather than legislation or necessity.