. . . nor should the government play any favorites in the matter. . . .
Sadly, the historical government has played favorites, drastically privileging oil extraction, road construction, auto ownership, etc. to the point where we are where we are. If the govs of the past had not done so, the price of oil would be much higher, and we would not have mis-allocated all those resources.
Biasing policy in favor of alternatives is simply correcting the past biases.
The contrast between the two is not diametric opposition, but rather the difference between blowing a lot of other people's money on a wish as opposed to saying "there is a problem coming, and we should be considering the best way to deal with it when the time comes."
That logic works to defend my position as well. The only difference is recognizing the points of most likely failure. In that case, biasing in favor of alternatives and conservation have no downsides, since supply interruptions can (and historically have) come from political disputes rather than natural supply shortfalls. Having a more resilient future economy is an overall positive condition.
no subject
Sadly, the historical government has played favorites, drastically privileging oil extraction, road construction, auto ownership, etc. to the point where we are where we are. If the govs of the past had not done so, the price of oil would be much higher, and we would not have mis-allocated all those resources.
Biasing policy in favor of alternatives is simply correcting the past biases.
The contrast between the two is not diametric opposition, but rather the difference between blowing a lot of other people's money on a wish as opposed to saying "there is a problem coming, and we should be considering the best way to deal with it when the time comes."
That logic works to defend my position as well. The only difference is recognizing the points of most likely failure. In that case, biasing in favor of alternatives and conservation have no downsides, since supply interruptions can (and historically have) come from political disputes rather than natural supply shortfalls. Having a more resilient future economy is an overall positive condition.