I want to live in a world where conversations can be had, where we can all sit down as a species and say, "Yes, this is what we want" or "no, we're going to pass on this." Unfortunately, there will always be people you will be unable to win over, unable to change their mind, even if the proper direction is a known. What then? We continue to argue? Forever tied in discussions without any forward progress?

The downsides of petroleum are clear. Its polluting, its limited, and we fight regional (check that, global) conflicts over it. Electricity is cheap, it's price is dropping quickly as more capacity comes online (solar, wind, natural gas where fracking is occurring), and its able to be moved across wide geographic areas extremely quickly. There is no reason oil shouldn't be taxed and those funds driven directly into renewables and electrified mobility.

Now, if you want to argue with me on facts, I am all ears. But until someone can prove we're not running out of oil, prove that we don't need a military to patrol the regions we extract that oil from, and prove that our economy can continue to function with a cartel controlling the literal fuel of the world economies, get the hell out of the way.