Fossil fuel users anonymous

We are addicted to fossil fuels.
I had a very interesting conversation cum debate with two geologists on the train a few days ago.
These are highly educated guys, specialists in their field and well used to giving talks on the topic (and of course they do a bit of getting on their knees in fields somewhere on the west coast of Ireland oohing and aaahing at little rocks). John was kind enough to sum up the situation in every day words for me, the neophyte.
He struggled for a while to try and sum up all the latest studies on the topic of solid fuels, but finally lit up and said: "basically, we are fucked" To which Conrad nodded in agreement, with visible admiration for his colleague and friend, who has such a knack for words.
We were quite vehemently disagreeing on the future exploitation of the Corrib gas field in Mayo, and the necessity for Shell to reap maximum profit out of it.
The beauty of the Shell deal is that it would allow the Irish nation to buy its own natural resources from the philanthropic giant.
The only real benefit for Ireland would be the guaranteed supply of gas for at least... 20 years, 30 if we are lucky, 40 if we hit the jackpot.
And then back to square one.
Unless the all-nuclear has been put in place in the mean time (or mostly-nuclear, as a few token wind farms would be thrown in here and there to appease the self-righteous greenies).
Needless to say I was slightly depressed as I got off the train.
What was clear from the conversation is that we are indeed collectively addicted to fossil fuels, all joyfully embarked on a suicidal trajectory towards annihilation.
We, as a race, cannot plan beyond a mere 1/2 century.
That is poor, very poor.
But we don't give a shit, most of us won't be here anymore in 70 years time anyway.

And then I remembered that I was just about to get my feed of boeuf bourgignon. And decided that planning beyond 2 hours was worthless anyway. Instant gratification it is!

For those of you who would rather settle for a lighter, almost slapstick comedy topic, Smithski is deconstructing Darwin today :)

PS: the names of the geologists have been changed
PPS: no they haven't