The Ultmate Resource (Score 1)

If you haven't read The Ultimate Resource by Julian Simon, now might be a good time. He was an Economist who died a few years ago. His point is that the human brain/ingenuity is the ultimate resource that can solve any problems that come along. Bring on the "Oil Crisis".... Over the years there has been a wood crisis (an early fuel), a coal crisis (the next fuel) and about a hundred oil crisises. In all those times the prices have risen then slowly returned to lower levels than before- relative to income- due to increased efficiency and a change to a newer system. Coal largely replaces wood. Oil largely replaces coal. The old systems don't go away but the new ones surpass them in volume. That's not to say that conservation and living within our means isn't a good idea (or a bad idea).