Earlier quoted context omitted.
> It's a non-starter. If half a year ago someone would tell me that the entire world will be shut down because of some kind of a flu, I wouldn't even consider this: it's a non-starter. And yet here we are. I can easily imagine a mind shift amongst current world powers that will be strong enough to reduce fossils usage to half of existing levels. And since they have all means to enforce this on developing world, I wou…
A 'Deus Ex-Machina' argument is not an argument. Yes, we could invent some magical technology tomorrow that solved all of our energy problems, but lacking divine intervention - there is no foreseeable path in which the Oil stays in the ground. Telling the 3rd world they must stay poor because 'we already used up all the Co2 emissions' is not going to work. Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Iran, etc. etc. will sell Oil to willi…
Why not? To sell oil you need massive and fragile infrastructure in place: pipelines, storage tanks, terminals, etc. This infra can be easily controlled. As soon as world powers decide that the damage done to the planet outweighs economic effects of cheap energy, they can easily impose global limit on oil trade. Which can be enforced by both economic and military means.