- Moderator
- #121
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I wouldn't say people like fuel. They need it in a wide variety of applications. And there are myriad types of fuel. People ordinarily want to be fuel efficient to the extent possible. But, it depends on what the tradeoff is to achieve that efficiency.
I stand by my earlier statement. If fuel shortages leads to dislocations and panic buying, then it's not necessarily good for the environment. Of course it depends on what caused the shortage in the first place. In the current situation, it's more because of an inability to actually deliver the fuel than a shortage. Legitimate shortages, i.e. not drilling enough to meet demand is a different issue.
This isn't a shortage. And actually, there's a ton more supply than demand. If prices go up, that means more drilling to meet demand if that's needed. There's plenty enough fuel in the ground to last generations.
I don't think anyone likes or dislikes fuel. It's a utilitarian thing. Powers cars, homes and much of our lives. It's just really useful in a lot of ways.
The mechanism for consuming less could come in the form of taxes but if you expect people to reduce fuel consumption, there needs to be an alternative.
Fwiw, at least in the US, we've been working on improving fuel efficiency for years, which is why you're seeing more electric vehicles on the road, more ways to utilize alternative energy,
You started with the premise that fuel shortages is good for the environment, but that may or may not be true. The current situation isn't one of them. If anything, the inefficiencies and panic buying has made the current situation worse for the environment, because people aren't thinking about the environment. They're thinking about whether they'll have enough fuel to do what they need to do in the near term.
