As the price of oil has dropped below $80 per barrel, some are thinking that the need for alternative fuel powered vehicles is not that great of a need. MSNBC ran a story here. The image is by Justin Sullivan from Getty Images.

It is true that oil has dropped to a lower price than anyone would have imagined this summer. In fact, one oil company that I know of is adjusting their budget and forecasts very much downward because of this - as I am sure many other companies are. This creates two problems from the economic standpoint. The companies will be creating less jobs for the exploration and recovery of fossil fuels, which will hurt the economy, and drive up the price of oil eventually.

The same person who told me about his company's budget adjustment has said that oil will go back up. Why is he so confident? Oil is a limited resource, and as it becomes harder to find or OPEC cuts back production, the price will go up. $200 per barrel of oil is just a matter of time. It could be 2 years, or it could be 40 years.

This brings me back to the issue at hand, why would we stop investing in research for alternative fuels when we know that those technologies will be vital and even necessary in the near future? Greed. The bottom line mentality does not take into account what is best for the future, but only what will make corporations the most money now, or allow consumers to purchase goods the cheapest now. The shortsightedness of capitalism may very well be what got us into the current credit crisis, and it may very well be what gets us into the next crisis - the crisis of fossil fuel free technology.

As Christians we must learn to look at more than just the short term profit/loss sheet. We must learn to look at a decision in terms of its moral weight. Since God values his creation, we should value it too. That may mean that we make a sacrifice now for the future, instead of looking for the cheapest goods at the present time.