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Originally Posted by Mel Asher
Thanks for the dissection and commentary, Tread.
One simple question which very few Western Politicians will face up to and give a straight answer ( without tacking on their own particular slant, that is )
Jenae has fingered it : Isn't it true that Western Politicians are shit scared to admit that the West ( in particular ) has overused fossil fuel resources to such an extent that they are in very real danger of being held to extortionate fuel prices by the OPEC cartel and other contollers of pertroleum products less than friendly to the West ? And that so as not to trigger this extortion, Global Warming is being trumpeted as the one thing to fear, taking the heat ( no pun intended ) off themselves as having promoted for years the abuse of finite resources. You see if they made an all out drive to develop non-carbon bases sources of electricity ( the widespread Nuclear power issue still being very contentious after Chernobyl ), then other Global producers of Oil would be quick to try to discourage such initiatives, as their source of Livelihood would be severly dented as a result. How would they do it ? Why, by putting up the price of oil ! Would the West have the political will to prevent this ? I think not.
I think the West has shot itself in the foot through sheer greed and rampant consumerism, and it will be made to pay the price.
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Quite true. However, as I drive around the freeways of S. California the possibility of an alternative to fossil fuels seems remote indeed. Our entire infrastructure is based on consuming fossil fuels. It seems impossible to maintain this level of activity with any other alternative. Ultimately, we will be forced into a very different lifestyle.
It all boils down to world population. If the world population was a tenth of what it now is, oil would last for centuries and the natural environment would survive. We are literally eating and consuming ourselves out of house and home.
So, what politician is going to advocate and what government is going to enforce what china has done, limit children to one per family?
