We are running out of oil. Renewable energy and other alternatives will be needed soon anyway.
Myth #1: The scarcity myth
Conventional (proven) oil reserves are drawfed by unconventional reserves. Unfortunately, supply shortages will not deter fossil fuel use in our lifetimes.
(Graphic adapted from IGPCC / UN 2001 report )
Also see Dr. Kovarik's essay on unconventional oil.
The market found kerosene when when whales ran out. There is no need for government intervention in the free energy marketplace.
Myth # 2: The "whale oil" myth
Whale oil was scarce long before petroleum arrived. The main lamp fuel was "camphene" (turpentine and ethanol). A tax advantage of $2 per gallon over camphene spurred the oil boom of the 1860s and created the petroleum industry.
Industrialized civilization necessarily depends on fossil fuels. There would be no civilization without coal and oil.
Myth #3: The big myth
In fact, the industrial revolution was well under way before widespread use of coal and oil. Water, wind and solar power were already widely developed. Even gas light was originally made from wood gas, not coal. There are renewables that can replace every use of petroleum and coal, and they have long been known in history.
The first large scale demonstration of coal gas was by Wm. Murdock for a Soho factory in 1802, seen glamorized in the 19th century style at left. Phillip Lebon created a gas lighting system based on wood in Paris six years earlier.