As an example, Thomas Friedman wrote a piece on how environmentalists were able to stop the construction of multiple coal plants by TXU in Texas in an unprecendented fashion. However, we're going to need energy to make alternative transportation fuels (electric cars, hydrogen fueled cars).
David Talbot in Technology Review writes about this in a review of ahydrogen fueled car by BMW noting:
The reason hydrogen-powered cars would produce more carbon emissions than regular cars starts with the fact that it takes energy to create hydrogen.
That is, circumventing the oil depletion problem with hydrogen cars is going to require coal plants! (Renewable sources, like hydropower, currently only supply 2% of the world's energy).
So which problem is worse? Are there solutions that can provide clean, renewable energy that is also easily and sufficiently converted for transportation purposes? Environmental conscious people - let's not forget about the Chimera while we're fighting off the Dragon, and vice versa.
Also both of these problems considered together come down to one - finding clean, renewable energy. Now that we're aware of global warming we'll learn to fight the Chimera by conservation, reducing commutes, increased mass transportation, buying more efficient vehicles and lighting systems, fazing out 'suburbia' (the internet lets us do this), and regulating carbon emissions by industry through carbon markets.
But unless we find a clean, renewable energy source before the wheels stop turning (the oil has made transport overly expensive), we will in our lifetimes see the 1st world as we know it disappear.
Surprisingly, there will be little noticable difference in the lives of 70%+ of the people in places like Africa, India, and China, if you don't count the widespread famines caused by desertification (happening in Africa now) and other climate change.
Go see the movie Children of Men.
