I'm pretty sure if there were another energy source as profitable and needed as oil, the "evil" oil barons & those nasty banker types would already own it ...
True and they do: water.
I also agree that there are two political agendas being pushed, here. We're not all going to die in 6 months and we dont have enough oil for 100,000 years.
Somewhere, in the middle, is the truth. Problem is, no one really knows for sure. However, we do know enough that the price of petroleum-based products does have a direct correlation with supply estimates and, I assure you, if ExxonMobil, Shell, etc. thought we were going to be running out of extractable crude any time soon, we'd be paying a heck of a lot more than $2.00 for a gallon of regular.
You'd also see diversification. These "evil oil companies" exist to make a profit by producing a good and selling it for a higher price; no different than any other company. Cigarette companies, for example, have been diversifying their businesses for decades because the writing on the wall was clear to them.
I don't see any oil companies rushing to get out of the oil business and you'd think, if their livelihood depended upon the existence of the resource required to make the product, they'd be pretty quick to change gears if they thought it was going to go missing any time soon.
Either way, the only
real "alternative fuel" is nuclear and, although the construction and operation of several new plants could considerably reduce dependence upon oil imports, the Japanese haven't figured out how to make a reactor small enough to fit into a car, yet.
