The US went from being a net oil exporter to a net importer again in late winter of 2020, a little over a year ago. The crash in oil prices because of COVID was a reason, but not the only one.
Do not count on business as usual for existing ICE vehicles.
Look for fuel to be more expensive short-term and ultimately not there at all long-term. Keeping your old ICE car or truck might not be viable in some areas.
But a British government report in 2019 about conditions in 2050 has made precisely that point about private cars being unsustainable.
Now here's food for thought, and I want to throw a question to the rest of you. The VW diesel-emissions scandal seemed a bit contrived in terms of reaction and the rush to go to EVs as the answer to the scandal.
This is not a political question, so a political answer is not warranted. Could it be that the global push for EVs is evidence that peak oil is real and making itself felt? Could it be that governments are exploiting environmental concerns for EV mandates to avoid a panic over the real reason, which is peak oil? I would suggest this makes more sense than a sudden concern about pollution. What do you think?
I had a discussion with a college researcher in a rage about VWs several years before dieselgate and yet nobody cared until they did. My comments only angered him more, my guess is since we knew about the cheating all along somebody got butthurt about something else and laid the smack down.
Behind closed doors it is understood that the party has been “over” since Greenspan’s famous comments during the last housing crisis.
The economy is fundamentally changed and not recoverable.
In effect the titans of industry need help and time to face the future lack of economy and loss of fundamentals, this has less to do with individual freedoms and nothing to do with car ownership (though many hard goods might get very expensive)
and more to do with how we safely transition as our way of life changes regardless of our actions.
The goal of the extremely wealthy and governments is to mitigate and slow the rage That inevitably occurs when people discover they can’t afford the things they expect.
This fear of God happened close to 2 decades ago and the 2 mindsets are basically live like its 1999 as long as possible then fall off a cliff or slowly transition to the new normal.
this isn’t about climate change or car ownership it’s about the fear of chaos and loss of power that occurs when we hit the fan of resource scarcity, things as simple as fertilizer and topsoil loss can change life overnight
The Muslims have a saying that my grandfather rode a camel, I drive a car, my son flys an airplane and my grandson will ride a camel.
Those in the know are scared, I have no idea if a true depression level event will happen in my lifetime but many companies, politicians and wealthy individuals are behaving against their own nature,
might be legitimate scarcity approaching which could wipe away a generations wealth and change our current way of life back to one resembling our great grandparents.
Im not worried however it turns out as I’ve lived through poverty but others go nuts if things start degrading
