Now for a moment let us talk about oil. Yes, black gold, that resource we once thought was useless in the 1500s but have been slurping out of the ground at faster and faster rates for the past one hundred and twenty five years. You see, in spite of what you think you know about oil, it is more essential to today's economy and stability than any other resource on this planet. That computer you are using? Gallons of oil went into its production - from transportation of parts to the plastics of the parts themselves. What about your car? Indeed, other than your petrol and your oils and fluids many more gallons went into building it, from the plastics, to the machines that molded the plastics, to the machines that made the machines that molded the plastic, to even the machines that transported the machines that made the machines that molded the plastic. Oil is in everything, has transported everything, and has built our very modern world. Oil, crude oil, the leftovers of 500 million years of dead things, is powering our very world in every facet and every way.
        What do you think would happen if it… ran out? No, I do not mean a dramatic "Tap's dry - we have none left!" out, I mean, what if our ability to suck more out of the ground is compromised? What if, instead of gaining, we stagnate, and there is no more crude than what is already being pumped? Well in the 1970s we saw a loss of 1% of all production. 1%. Doesn't seem like much, does it? It is enough to cause a global market meltdown and the fuel crisis of the 70s. Now what happens when we reach the limits of what can be taken out? What happens when it suddenly costs 6 dollars for that bread instead of 2 because the machines cost more to run, and the transportation triples in costs? You're looking at an economic meltdown of epic proportions. What about solar panels? It takes oil to make them. What about coal? It will peak too - and it's much easier to make plastics out of oil. What about recycling? It takes oil. Oil, oil, oil, and oil. Crude, fossil fuel oils power everything from cosmetics to your car to the airplane you ride on. When we hit that peak number, and no more than what we have can be pumped, and we are at 100% capacity, we will see the end of this little world as we know it. Warlordism, resource hogging, and wars will be fought for the remaining supplies.
        The Electric Future, however, gives an alternative. By cutting petrol all over the planet and relying on nuclear fission as a temporary fix you can stave off this doomsday by enough time to convert to oils from renewable resources. Yes, renewable, grasses are a great example. The benefit of this is also that burning grass will re-release the carbon used to make the grass, rather than carbon that has been trapped in the earth. One of the big efforts will be to "scrub" the atmosphere of the excess carbons - and the technology even exists to extract oils from the very air we breathe - although it does cost more energy to do than what you would get out.
        So, in the short term planning, a massive construction effort that uses primarily humans (able bodied workers with shovels), followed by powering up the nuclear facilities to make this work along with the manufacturing of the cars that are powered and run by the highways themselves, would allow for the dramatic reduction of petrol usage. Additional reliance on electrified rail and less on semi truck would increase savings of petrol. In the medium term, more alternative fuels would be used for power generation to avoid a uranium-peak in which uranium would run out, and instead solar, wind, and even hydroelectric power, along with the possibility of future Fusion power, would become standardized, as would the renewable oil industry, using harvested plant matter for plastics and cosmetics along with fuel. In the long term the most important issue would be scrubbing our atmosphere of its hugely out-of-whack carbon levels, and in so doing, averting further damage in climate change.
        Again, it is only with the help of people like you that I can take over the world and make this as reality, so until such time as I have power over at least 3 billion of the population, this remains an idealist dream, even if it is feasible.

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