To say that we should move beyond oil is simply to imply the obvious: that human innovation should continue. Yet the people who oppose Big Oil the loudest (i.e., the politicians) are the ones most in favor of restraining capitalism and innovation in science. If government got out of the way, and if reason and science were elevated to the status they deserve in human affairs, we could once again be certain that human innovation would rise to the occasion, moving us ever further along.

Let's not forget, though: Oil is nothing more than sticky muck found in the ground without the rational mind-set underlying all human innovation. I'm grateful for the presence of oil in the world, insofar as human ingenuity made it useful. It has served all of us pretty well. Human use of oil is not some abusive addiction. It's the whole reason our lives are as worthwhile as they are.