[JeffersonRepublic.com]

"A novel idea: let's let the market decide. If we are really running out of oil (as has been incorrectly predicted since we first started pumping it), then prices will rise until alternatives become economic without government fiat or subsidies."

Your "novel idea" is a joke. The market doesn't decide... OPEC decides! Right now the price of oil is extremely high. High enough to justify alternatives. The problem is money. Investors can easily be uncut by OPEC dumping oil on the market and driving price down which would make an alternative energy investment too risky.

By sitting back and waiting for the market to decide, we end up pumping America's treasury into the Arab banks.

[GeorgefromGeorgia]

It is not a joke, the Europeans use this method. OPEC does have an impact on oil prices, but it does not control the majority of oil produced in the world and Saudi Arabia frequently pumps more oil than their quota.