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Originally Posted by Tim
Well, in fact we are far more efficient in the use of energy than we were in the 70s: about twice as efficient.
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Depends on when in the 70s you mean. If you mean 1971, while I reserve the right to nitpick that "twice" business, there have certainly been major improvements. If you mean 1979, I don't think so. The 1970s featured the OPEC oil embargo, a kind of artificially-imposed preview of the oil peak long before we actually reached it. One of the responses to the oil shortages of the time was to improve efficiency, while another was to develop new oil fields. Basically, we made big strides in improving efficiency until those new fields' production solved the problem, and then we stopped bothering.
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And as for oil being plentiful and cheap - that was stated precisely the same way, word for word, in the 70s and early 80s. Then prices imploded in the mid 80s and we had another 15 years of cheap and plentiful oil.
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Yes, well, nobody in the industry at that time believed we had reached, or were near, the oil peak. What happened is that a consortium of oil producers imposed an embargo for political reasons. This created shortages that were
like the oil peak, but only for as long as the embargo remained effective. The development of reserves outside OPEC's control, especially Britain's North Sea oil, broke the cartel's ability to stick it to us, and then, yes, we had another 15 years of cheap and plentiful oil. But the shortages were politically-caused, not geologically-caused. Today's situation is different.
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As for exploring alternative energy sources - we are in rare agreement on that one. 
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Good-o.