Oil is still the most important source of energy in the world, even despite the sharp volatility in oil prices. Global oil production and consumption continues to grow and even the climate change issue isn't powerful enough to decrease the global hunger for oil.
Oil is bad for environment because burning oil emits greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide that contribute to climate change. The ever-increasing foreign oil import is damaging our energy security and our energy dependence with billions of dollars heading to oil-rich countries. Why not use this money to develop strong domestic renewable energy sector instead?
Our entire industry was built on oil which is way oil has a very long tradition in our society. This has created very powerful fossil fuel lobbies that control politics to get major political decisions going their way.
The powerful fossil fuel lobbies aren't the only reason why oil is still dominant source of energy in global scale. The renewable energy technologies have just started developing and are still far off from reaching adequate level in terms of costs and efficiency.
Renewable energy sources have abundant potential but they need to improve their cost-competitiveness with fossil fuels because many people are still reluctant to pay higher energy bills for renewable energy sources, even despite their environmental benefits.
Nuclear energy, on the other hand, is perceived by general public as the energy source with too many safety issues, especially after the recent Fukushima nuclear accident.
Oil will likely rule the world for many years to come but this doesn't mean that oil will last forever. Renewable energy will one day replace oil, not just because of environmental issues and abundant potential but also because oil is finite energy resource that will eventually become exhausted.
The present belongs to oil, the future will no doubt belong to renewable energy. The science will eventually make renewable energy technologies cheaper and more efficient and this will end the dominance of oil.
