Oil

Problematic stuff, oil. So precious, so harmful, so useful, so sparsely distributed around the globe. We are addicted to it, and through being so give billions of our hard-earned to people who would rather see us dead or enslaved, and to dictators and other tyrants. One thing is for sure and that is it is going to run out. From that, we can also conclude we are going to use it all. And seeing as we are going to use it all, setting up mechanisms to reduce our usage is not necessary - does it matter to the environment who used it? Does it matter in the great scheme of things at all? Not really. One man reducing his consumption means another has more to use, and he will.

However, as the price rises because demand rises whilst supply declines (commodity markets behave how economists expect us all to behave) other fuel sources will become more commercially viable. Cost will, however, most probably rise overall. Cost of transportation; cost of heating; cost of living. But think of the immense slack in our economies that we can use up to cover these costs: we could probably reduce power consumption by 20% without breaking a sweat. Aircon is unnecessary in Britain (open the window) and getting a job closer to home or home closer to work is possible for a lot more people that let on. Using infra-red detectors to switch off TVs and gadgets when no-one is in the room. Walk to the post box instead of drive. Simple things. No detriment to us individually. If I reach my 60s I'll look back at the late 20th Century as the gloriously, uniquely, indulgent period it was, where frugality and modesty in our wants were thrown aside for a brief moment in history. Our future, I think, won't be worse for lack of fuel. Other things might make it worse, but excessive consumption and inefficiency as a mode de jour are not the be all and end all of a happy life.

Oil will run out. Let's not get too wound up about it. As Buddha said when asked, "how should I get out of the burning sun?" just "step into the furnace".