Oil as a commodity

Balint asked a great question Monday. He asked me if I truly believed that oil "the root of all evil"--then what did I think about petroleum products that we use every day--including this laptop that I'm typing on right now.

So I'd like to add to my response that so long as oil is needed to fuel our vehicles, power our homes, fly our planes, and power our government it will cause blood to spill and the environment to suffer. But IF we find an alternative source for power, a renewable source for power--THEN oil will be a simple commodity. Oil as a commodity is not nearly as "evil" a symbol for power.