I’m in an argument with some folks about oil and how if we don’t start conserving it now everyone will die and all that fun stuff. I would like to reply with the fact that as oil becomes more scarce the price will rise and alternatives will become more feasible. However, I can’t think of any examples. What examples from history show this in terms of natural resources?
Why must they have an example. Appeal to their reason and [alleged] thinking ability and make them bring examples if they insist on them. I had found that if you can’t appeal to someone’s reason, then no example in the world will do the job anyway.
If they understand the reasoning, they will immediately see examples all around them 24/7. It will be like a blind man who gets his eye sight.
In recent history, your point is illistrated by the changing materials used to manufacture pretty much everything over the past 100 years. The rising prices of all sorts of different resouces prompted manufacturers to change the materials used, change the designs to use less resources, etc. The auto industry is a good example. 50 years ago nearly every part of a car was made of steel. Today steel is only used for certain parts of the car. Aluminum, plastics, and composites have replaced steel becuase they are either less expensive, or perform better at a specific application (meaning less is needed to do the same job).
You can look at nearly any product and see the same trends. I dont know why energy production would be any different.