Software

you must be losing it Max, to believe that.

there is no way America can get rid of it's dependence on foreign fossil fuels, without completely rebuilding the American psyche to make the automobile an evil thing.

by James Howard Kunstler. I need say no more.

I don't think we'll be weaned from fossil fuels anytime soon but we don't need to use foreign oil. America has enough to last 300 years at our present usage rate. We just need to ignore the stupid tree-huggers.

the bulk of the developed world won't become independant of oil in the forseeable future.

I suspect we might disagree on the ratio of can't and won't though.

There's a lot of inertia, natural and contrived within the energy market. At some point in the forseeable fossil fuels will no longer be economically viable. Increasing prices will stretch viability (hopefully as long as possible as the energy moguls are concerned), but we are starting to reach the point where we won't be able to afford it and leave them in profit.

The thing that irritates me is that this situation was entirley predictable and very little has been done to address it over the last fifty years. All we've had is excuses, false dawns, unachievable promises and co-incidentally of course, massive profits for those controlling the supply....

Sure it is, but we're not willing to pay the economic costs or make the social sacrifices. I'm not saying we should, but it appears we as consumers and businesses are unwilling to make any compromises to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels in general or foreign oil in particular.

Incidentally, how are we defining 'foreign oil'? Doesn't all oil pumped in the US go onto the world market? Don't US oil refiners buy it from there?

Max,

Yes, we will become free of our dependence on foreign oil and even domestic supplies of fossil fuel.

How?

Not by the adaption of alternate energy sources. No, economic forces will remove the US from the oil consuming nations.

I think it is only a matter of time before the value of the US dollar drops so low on the global market that the US will not be able to afford to import any oil products.

Then, in order to repay our loans, China and Japan will demand the full export of our domestic oil gas and perhaps even coal.

Of course, when that does happen, there will be a sudden interest in alternate energy sources. But, with no funding for the research and no money to buy the alternate energy, that effort will fail.

Since I don't expect that we will ever raise taxes, grow the US economy, or cut spending enough to be able to pay down our foreign debt, this is more a question of when than if.

Chas