Oil, what is it good for?

Am I the only one that thinks that the price of Oil going up is a good thing? 

I realize short term, it creates some stress for the middle to lower class because its more expensive to go to the cottage, to do that vacation, to drive to work but I think the long term effects of this phenomenon is being missed or at least ignored by the vast majority of people.  Oil is by far the most resourceful commodity we have right now.  Oil is a key ingredient in plastics, rubber, pharmaceuticals, cement, electronics, clothing, and on and on.  So we have this product that can be molded, melted, sculpted to create many of our every day products and yet we use like 90% of oil to burn as fuel.  That just seems incredibly wasteful and short sighted.

 We waste oil so freely and have been doing it for over a hundred years and finally the price of Oil is at a point where we are starting to question our daily habits and rituals.  In a single year, the price of Oil has done what countless Gov’t policies, commercials, documentaries, books, and environmentalists couldn’t do.  Make the consumer rethink and re-evaluate how they travel, work and live.  For the first time, I heard my dad say “I think I’m going to bike to the corner store.”  The man hasn’t ridden a bike in over 20 years.  For the first time since the early 90s, a pick up truck isn’t the best selling vehicle in the states.  The incredibly fuel efficient Honda Civic was the best selling car in May.  GM just announced that they are closing one of their bigger plants near Toronto that used to make pick up trucks because people are moving towards smaller sedans.  Toyota and Honda both have announced fully electric cars to be released in Japan by 09, and most likely in the North American market a year or two after that. 

 All of these changes in the market have nothing to do with a shift by the consumer to be more environmentally conscious cause lets be honest, most of us don’t give a shit about the environment.  We care about our comforts and maintaining our lifestyle.  The minute our lifestyle becomes too expensive for our budget, that’s when we force the market to change.  This shift is going to force governments to invest in more public transit, its going to force Auto companies to make their cars as oil free as they can and it’s going to force the consumer to use less gas, whether it be for our car or for our home.  So from my point of view, I hope the price of Oil keeps going up, up, up.  Over $200 a barrel would be perfect.  It’s been too cheap for far too long and we really need to wean ourselves off it and God knows, we aren’t going to do it for the drowning Polar Bears.