Jag, you think those problems are insurmountable? Solutions will be found.
no, I don't believe the problems to be insurmountable, ...but at the same time, I don't believe the obstacles to overcome should be made higher before they are even tackled.
Watch how fast this country can move if that happens. E85 cars will be mass produced. E85 only stations will pop up overnight. Biodiesel trucks will become the norm. Solar water heaters in all new homes. Wind and solar farms coming online. Nuclear power.
That's all well and good, ...but how many people are regularly visited by the new car fairy? The country might be able to move fast, but it takes a collective will. Thus far, the focus has not been on taking the action that is needed, but on ignoring the problem or worse, ...outright denying it's existence.
So long as these current issues are ignored, or shoved on the backburner, the period of adjustment is going to be a much more painful period than it has to be for too many people.
As for Biodiesel trucks becoming the norm, well in many areas they are. I know my municipal transit system is run on biodiesel, ...however what is a motorist to do whose vehicle runs on gasoline?
Biodiesel vehicles, don't just pop up overnight, ...they must be purchased, and with the cost of fuel going through the roof, it cuts too deeply into the operating budget to just run out and buy a new one, ...let alone an entirely new fleet. In the past few months, my eyes have really been opened to the huge toll higher fuel prices are having on everyone. Not just the ordinary citizen, ...but on those dependent on fuel simply to operate. Transportation companies are hurting so badly, ...and these are the guys who safeguard and ensure our way of life on the domestic front. As a result of increased transportation costs (which are always passed on to the consumer) prices go up, inflation takes place (currencies are devalued), something you guys might not be too cognizant of, but your dollar has dropped like a lead balloon on world markets. Haven't you noticed the prices you pay for things have increased sharply? That's because investors are dropping your currency as quickly as they can. I cashed a USD cheque last week, and got an exchange rate of 1.03% 3 pennies on the dollar!
A limited oil supply has a greater impact on you than you realize, even if you're a bike rider, and don't drive a car, you are still negatively impacted.
What do you think would happen if independent truckers are forced out of business, ...unable to afford fuel costs?
I'll tell you, ...the vast majority would starve. This is not like the Great Depression of the 30's when people still had the fortitude to grow their own food and bake their own bread. Nowadays, without an independent trucker bringing those things into our supermarkets, we'd starve. Our way of life is too intricately dependent upon a constant supply of affordable fuel, and when the demand surpasses the supply, we're in trouble.
We need to lower our consumption before it reaches that point. The transition period should have begun years ago. it didn't. Infact, everything was done to stall. The end result is when the inevitable occurs, only those who are extremely flush, will be able to seize the opportunities presented to implement a new infrastucture, or to transition to a new one.
The vast majority cannot. The USA for all it's greatness is quickly on it's way to going the route of the dinosaur. Why? Because it is too big to maneuver quickly enough. I'm reminded of a line Danny Devito uttered in "Other People's Money" when describing the advent of the automobile, and horse buggy whip manufacturers. He basically said the last buggy whip factory to go out of business, was probably the best buggy whip factory around. Because they were so successful, they were unable to recognize the winds of change blowing, or to transition to a new paradigmn in order to position themselves in a changing marketplace. Eventually, the market decided their fate.
I saw the same thing when i was an agent. Because I was small, and by necessity had to look for ways to improve my profitability, I seized paradigmns that enabled me to survive an assault on the industry. We saw giants, who had been around since the 1940's & 1950's go under, while little ol' me, not only survived, but thrived. Why? Because we were now playing with a different set of rules, rules which I, out of necessity was not only able to spot, but compelled to take action on. The USA and the vast majority of her citizens have not been so fortunate. You scream about $3/ gallon gasoline, ...but guess what? You are enjoying some of the lowest fuel prices on earth. Up here in canada, we can only wish for $3/ gallon gasoline. We have people in Turkey where fuel prices are as high as $10 gallon, who as a result of being able to understand what's going on in this world, will never ever have to pay out-of-pocket for fuel costs ever again.
ps - counting on technology to improve to such an extent where we will be able to tap the currently untappable reserves, is in my opinion tantamount to screwing Liberace or Rock Hudson without a condom, and saying "Who cares, ...by the time the disease takes hold of my body, scientists will have developed a cure by then, so I'm throwing caution to the wind." Do you really think that's the smartest approach?
I believe what we will see in the future is similar to what we're seeing now in many 3
rd. world countries. Only the extremely rich and elite will have cars. Everyone else, donkeys etc. OK maybe in North America it might be horses, or public transit, ...but you get my point.
