"(PeteCresswell)" wrote:

But doesn't everybody have to agree that the world, as a whole, has a
limited supply of oil ?

To reduce it to the ridiculous, let's say that the world's supply of oil
is presently a thousand times as much as all the experts say.

But even at 1,000x.... it is still limited..... and every barrel we pump
today is one less barrel that will be available tomorrow.

To me, a truly conservative position would be to economize as much as
possible on the barrels we pump today so we will have more tomorrows
where the stuff is available or, at least, not priced out of sight.

Just as the world has a limited supply of Oxygen and water. Both are just as
necessary as oil - even more so. Should we reduce our use of those as well?

Hydrocarbons are not the only world source of energy. They just happen to
provide the best combination of energy density vs. cost to use today. When the
price of hydrocarbons increase, other forms of energy will be available. That's
how markets work. You don't have to decreee or subsidize alternatives - they
happen at the right time.