The good of humanity?
Have you seen Venezuela lately? How about Norway and other nations that depend on oil revenues to provide humanitarian services?
Have you taken note of the thousands upon thousands of people now out of work since the precipitous drop in oil? Not to mention the fallout in local economies in oil (including fracking)producing states.
I’m sure you know banks pay almost no interest for savings accounts or CD’s. How can people, not the least of which retirees, get a low risk return on savings? They must switch to dividend paying stocks, of which oil and gas are one of the top choices for a low risk return.
Insurance companies and pension funds depend on interest and dividends to make good on promises to those who entrusted them with their hard earned money. Interest, including low risk corporate and government bonds pay very little. So they turn to dividends.
I realize that lower prices at the pump is good for individual consumers and lowers the cost of delivery trucks among other benefits.
But humanity, since you brought it up, is better served, at this juncture, by higher prices (not too high, obviously).
Inexpensive energy is the root of an economy... period. Everything else is bad judgement and wishful thinking, which leads to people suffering. Beggar thy neighbor seems the current business model.
“But humanity, since you brought it up, is better served, at this juncture, by higher prices (not too high, obviously).”
Sorry, but you are completely wrong.
Humanity constitutes people, whereas you are referencing countries.
No one in their right mind would ever claim that people are better served by paying more money out of their pocket for energy.
Their is no convincing argument you could ever make that says otherwise.
The energy sector will be demolished for sure(and I am a +40 year veteran of that) but so what? If energy was as free as the air we breather, people in this world would be immensely benefited.