Smitty Two wrote:

"Conserving" energy just means putting off the day of reckoning.
Those who want to "conserve" may be thinking of their grandchildren
but ignoring the fate of their great-great-grandchildren.

Rome denuded the forests of Africa for charcoal. When the trees
there (and in Europe) ran out, a market and industry based on coal
was developed. When that got scarce, the world turned to
petrochemicals.

If we ever run out of oil, there'll be something else.

Then again, some improvements aren't based solely on scarcity. As
somebody said, "The stone age didn't end because we ran out of
stones."

Good point, although some claim a shortage of stones in the Congress is
contributing to the current mess.