We have tossed it around in thread after thread ,blamed Kevin Rudd for it and just about every one.
But have we reached a point that world motorists will not pass?
It seems clear we will pay more still, that oil will continue to rise but at what cost?
The world economy is not assured to just keep traveling on this single issue may well drop it to its knees soon.
More protests more near riots and more increases is there a limit?
Is there an answer?
If say Pakistan blows up into a war can the west park its cars and not suffer massive damage to its economy?
Will it take more than push bikes and green power to avoid this problem?

I have said this before on this site, but I'll say it again. We have far too many people on this planet all competing for the same finite resources. It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention, so for brief periods something comes along that alleviates certain problems but only encourages further breeding, because every country is committed to expansion. We seem only capable of living for the present and not looking to the future for continued sustainability. I suppose it's because no one wants to be left behind in this insatiable desire to "get in front". Even religion is caught up in this, wanting to promote only its version of a deity with its own beliefs and philosophy and so encouraging its flock in ever increasing fertility. All it does is widen the gap between the "Haves" with their power, and the "Have-nots" who do not have the influence required to often even get an education, let alone put food into their belly.
So whether it is oil, food, water, land....you name it, that has to be shared more and more with more and more people. Everyone looks round for someone to blame and it is usually governments that will bear the brunt of the social discontent, although, apart from their continued process of subsidising fecundity, they have little power to do much about it.

I agree with snake. The more allowances science and technology, the weather, or agriculture makes for humans to subsist, the more those human rapidly expand to fill the space...

The Murray Darling river is a perfect example. Instead of leaving the river healthy, the water is sucked dry by thousands of irrigators and towns, every last drop until the river doesn't exist anymore in all it's former glory. States have encouraged people to do this.

ok snake and steel no contest we have too many humans on the planet.
Do we only feed the ones we want?
it is related to the thread yes too many wanting too little but how do we kill half the worlds population?
In the short term ,right now we stand confronted by growing protests that will only get worse.
The impact of filling a fuel tank is minor compared to costs to transport food and every thing we need.
I do hold governments responsible , why no real effort at new fuels 10 years ago?
Why none now?
Truly we could do much better the world economy is in real danger.
Back to over population, no argument from me , but who says who has less children, truly is it of value for the west to undertake lowing the birth rate while others do not?
By months end, this month the world fuel crisis will be on all our minds.
By Christmas we will know the importance of it, some have blamed individual governments some blame speculation you blame population.
But we must find an answer very soon killing half the worlds people seems a bit harsh to me.

Part 1 of reply.

Belly, by putting up this post, are you scared of what you see happening in the World with relation to rising oil prices, perhaps hoping for an answer to alleviate your fears, or are you just creating a post that you hope will lead to an interesting conversation?

You said.....
"But we must find an answer very soon killing half the worlds people seems a bit harsh to me."

Well Belly. I'll give you the news and it's all bad. You won't have to worry about killing anyone. Nature will do all that for you, well, that is unless you count those who died trying to defend their last meal when the hungry hoards descend.

There's only one reason that we have in excess of 6.5 billion people on the face of the planet. Oil! Oil has allowed humans to breed out of control because of its use in food production and medication. Without oil the human population could never have exceeded 2 billion, so what do you think will happen when oil becomes too expensive to continue business as usual? Yes, the population will begin to decline as food production goes into a death spiral.

There is no replacement for oil. One barrel of oil contains the equivalent of 25,000 man hours of energy. And you can forget hydrogen. It's all about the EROEI, Energy Returned on Energy Invested. It takes as much energy to make a unit of hydrogen as it contains. Unless someone can find a way to split hydrogen from water without using electricity, then it's a waste of time taking about hydrogen

So what's left? Coal, yes but finite. Ditto for Uranium, not to mention the clean-up bill if it all goes wrong or at decommissioning time. Wind? Nuh! Even Canberra can't provide enough wind to power the country, or the World. All "renewables" depend on oil in their production and it's NOW we need to be putting that oil to use, but I fear oil supplies will run down to the point whereby their use to make renewable energy becomes non viable.

Too late Belly, it's all over. We've still got plenty of tech believers out there, but best you learn how to grow vegetables and breed chooks before the crap really hits the fan. You haven't got long.
Aime.