[smaridge01]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Your signature line is: "There was life before oil, there can be life without it. "

That hints a bit at a progressive or crusading spirit. The implication is that life would unquestionably be better without oil.

Life before oil was more nasty, brutish and short (for most people, for many reasons) - hardly as utopian or bucolic as some today might like to think of the past. Oil and other advancements relieved us of a life sodden with soot and horse manure.

Thymeclock, you seem to read a lot that isn't written. My signature indicates that I believe we can live without oil. It's that simple. No doubt that oil brought wonderful things to our lives, but it is going to run out, no matter how badly you want to cling to it. Also, it's a big part of the bad things going on in our environment right now. I have no delusions that I will be an oil consumer to the end of my days, since it is so deeply ingrained in so many facets of our lives.

BUT... life AFTER oil is not going to be anything like life BEFORE oil. We have many OTHER wonderful technologies now that almost guarantee life after oil will be much better than life before oil.

The good news is that it's still a matter of personal choice. You don't have to do a thing about it if you don't want to. It sounds like you don't like the idea of change. If you are lucky, you can drive a gas-burner the rest of your life and not have to change. Leave it to somebody else.

Thanks for your good points.