There is another, more pressing reason for getting rid of our dependence on fossil fuels. It is not a newly recognized threat; in fact, it has been recognized and warned about almost as long as oil has been the dominant source of energy in the world. The very name "fossil fuel" -- which applies to oil as well as coal and other hydrocarbons found in the ground -- reveals the essential problem with a dependence on such fuels. They come from the same source as fossils -- organic material in the form of plants and animals dead for many hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. The rate of consumption is exponentially greater than the rate that new sources of fuel like oil and fuels deposits can be created, meaning that eventually the energy will dry up. This could be within the next century, even within the next few decades, according to the more paranoid estimates. Regardless of when this is going to happen, however, there is absolutely no

When it does, we will need other ways to power our transportation vehicles, our electrical power plants, our factories -- we will need a new way or ways to power our society, or return to the pre-Industrial age.
Though some would no doubt enjoy the return to a simpler life, many would not, and man would simply not survive in a world whose resources became as limited as they were before industrialization cheapened goods and eased commerce. In order to prevent this -- and to maintain some semblance of the life style we enjoy -- it is necessary to develop solar, wind, and other renewable sources of energy. The benefit to the environment might still be debatable, but the benefit that renewable energy will provide to the future of humanity is without question.