Fail

"In the United States in 2007 about 70% of petroleum was used for transportation (e.g. gasoline, diesel, jet fuel), 24% by industry (e.g. production of plastics), 5% for residential and commercial uses, and 2% for electricity production."

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/aer/pecss_diagram.html

Then look at how the US stacks up on global consumption:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/country/index.cfm

There are plenty of alternatives that need to be developed. swwind named a few and there are plenty more. There may not be one silver bullet, but we need to get our heads out of the sand. Petroleum is a technological dead end. It is not renewable, It is not infinite. It is not sustainable.

But it sure lines the pockets of big oil and they will do anything to convince us that we can stay on it for as long as possible. Oh no, wait. We trust big corporations do do what's in our best interest. Never mind what I just wrote. Go Exxon Mobil, Go Shell, Go BP! We love you. You will always take care of us. May we have some more master, please?!

...They are akin to crack dealers and we are junkies. It is not in their interests to ween us off...ever.

That being said, there will always be a need for it in some capacity, but we need to change our behavior...our consumption. Yeah, that sucks. We like our big trucks and our big 250hp bass rockets. Yeah, it will cost us more money. We love cheap gas. Yeah it will hinder the economy. Change never comes easy. Pay now or pay later. Let China, India and Russia continue to be addicted to oil while we INNOVATE new technologies. Then when the spigot runs dry or oil gets too expensive, we will be the economic superpower controlling the "new" lifeblood of the global economy = Energy Technology.

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Nahhh...just kidding! Just keep drilling. That's been working great so far!!!