wind magic said
"The problem isn't that there aren't any alternative energy sources, there are plenty. The problem is that none of them is cheaper to produce and use than oil."
I think this nails exactly what will happen regardless of our arguments about what SHOULD happen. Until oil gets expensive enough or something else gets cheap enough we are going to keep on the way we are doing now whether or not it causes global warming or doesnt. It is also true, though, (I think chuckles says this) that we could do research into alternatives that might speed up the process. I would be all for this, I think the government could put some money in this and it would be well spent if something came out of it - In fact, if something DID come out of it we would have a whole new growth industry which would help in a lot of ways.
History confirms that we only switch
fuels when relative costs make us do it. The world used to be fueled by wood and it wasnt until the Europeans cut down every forest they had that they switched over to coal. (That, by the way, was why they needed American trees for their masts by the early 1800's - they didnt have enough big ones to supply their navies) Then they burned up all the then-accessible coal (before strip mining) and it got expensive enough that we all switched to oil. It wont be until oil is expensive enough compared to whatever is next that we will phase it out. Google "Hubbert curve" to read about the guy who first described this (Full name is M King Hubbert). People argue about whether we are or are not past the peak of the oil Hubbert curve nowadays - that is something that is unknowable til after the fact - but he originally made his argument not just for oil but for other
fuels as well.