Era of cheap energy is coming to an end

It is entirely possible for us to come up with clean and sustainable energy sources and with more efficient ways to use that energy. But what needs to be faced, and what the public needs to understand, that the era of cheap energy - that provided by fossil fuels - is coming to an end. All of the alternatives, whether you're talking biofuels, wind, solar, geothermal or whatever, are and will continue to be more expensive. Correspondingly, everything that depends on that energy - food, transportation, heating, cooling, etc - will also be more expensive. People need to be told that their lifestyles will be undergoing considerable change in upcoming years, with the emphasis going towards conservation, greater efficiency, and in many cases, doing without. Getting in the car and driving two miles to pick up a bag of chips will _not_ be an option. To put it bluntly, we're all going to be paying more for less and hoping to god that less will be enough.