Congressional inquiry of Oil industry profits

thats the fallacy. oil is not inelastic. we would use much less if we had to. we just dont need to. we all still happily buy gas just as much as we did years ago, not because we have to, but because it is convenient and relatively cheap.

if oil went up tenfold tomorrow, i guarantee we would use a hell of a lot less. people would carpool, buy hybrids, buy one of those kits that makes your engine run on biodiesel. buy motorcycles, ride a train.

and we would speed up our long term plans drastically. we would invest millions and millions into fuel cells. make plans for more nuclear plants to heat our homes with electricity instead of heating oil. car comapnies that do not make hybrids yet would make the most efficient ones yet. hydrogen fuel cells might become so good we really can use them in cars. people might figure out cold fusion.

we bemoan our supposed dependence on it, while at the same time stifling innovation.

if we were still dependent on coal wold we worry that coal would get too expensive? probably, but soon we would realize we didnt need coal anymore. we just move on to the next thing.

besides, is it really moral to tell anyone what profits they are allowed to make on something? keeping in mind that their things are theirs and not ours for the taking?

 

If gas rose tenfold tonight the world would be screwed for a long time. We do not have the capacity to switch to another method of fuel. I read somewhere that if every grain of corn and soy bean in the world were turned into fuel it would only meet 1% of the world's demand. The proper soloution is to keep the price of oil affordable now and develop alternatives for the future.

 

You continue to miss the point.

Low energy prices will not encourage the development of alternative fuels. We started to look at alternative fuels in the 70s and early 80s but stopped when energy prices fell. People are not going to invest big money in alternative fuels if they can't compete with existing energy prices.

And noticeably absent from your solution is the word conservation. Amercians are energy hogs and will not change their ways unless it hurts them financially. Sad, but true.

 

Actually, we are working hard on it. I expect in 10-15 years hydrogen cars will be available.