When it comes to soaring living standards and progress of all kinds, oil’s role is massive. Imagine how staggeringly poor we would be absent all the mechanization and subsequent productive leaps born of oil’s discovery as a crucial source of fuel. A life without crude would reduce us to an extraordinarily primitive existence, one that would include a lack of electric vehicles. Really, did you honestly believe we’d be advanced enough, have the time, or the increasingly inexpensive resources necessary to manufacture electric cars sans oil?
Still, making the obvious point that oil is an essential driver of progress is not the same as saying that “energy independence” is necessary for progress. Not at all. Switzerland is the picture of rich despite being “energy dependent,” so is Hong Kong, and if we’re realistic, so is New York City. When you’re productive, the whole world produces for you. This includes providing oil and its byproducts to you.
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