Is our addiction to fossil fuels greater than a smoker's addiction to cigarettes?

Question

It took many years for research into the link between smoking and health problems to be accepted and even now many people defy the risks. Are we in for an even longer delay before effective action can be taken on global warming given the benefits of profligate consumption of fossil fuels? Is it a case that the 'patient' will have to be noticeably 'ill' before significant action is taken?

Answer 1

I don't believe any of us actually have an addiction to fossil fuels.  The governments of the world use fossil fuels to sastisfy the increasing demand for energy.

If anything surely energy (or more specifically, energy consumables) is what a lot of people are addicted to.

I agree with your point though and it was well made.

Answer 2

There is no addiction to fossil fuels.  You obviously do not know what an addiction is.

Answer 3

We need to bring out the environmental nicotine patches. That is, the alternative (sustainable) energy sources.

Difference between cigarettes and fossil fuels is that you can never run out of cigarettes, but you can run out of fossil fuels.

Answer 4

Global warming as a tough sell, the scientists don't even all agree on it.  Even this past winter we heard a lot about unseasonably cold and record low temperatures.  So, if global warming is a real event, it doesn't seem to be happening just yet.  It won't be easy to convince people that there is a problem with fossil fuels but the rising cost of gas may make people look at alternatives.

Answer 5

nobody is saying that the polution we caused isn't bad for our health, what the "skeptics" are saying is that a) the globe isn't actually warming anymore and b) man wasn't the cause of it when it was

Answer 6

MONEY... that's the reason they still make cigarettes... people are willing to spend money on them, so big corporations are still going to make them to make BIG PROFITS !!!  Same with oil... it makes money for the oil industry... so change is unwelcome.  A hydrogen powered car would be a threat to BIG OIL PROFITS... so you don't see BIG industry sinking money into developing them !  When we eventually run out of oil... and WE WILL... the oil companies will expand into Hydrogen or Nitrogen... what ever we decide to power our future automobiles... but not until they have pumped the consumer dry !!!

Answer 7

your comparison is strange to say the least, nicotine is additive so what is addictive with fossil fuel unless you mean our current standard of living in the west is an addiction.

without fossil fuel we would still be living in the dark ages.

what would your remedy be to stop the used of fossil fuel. solar power?, wind power? methane gas from animal waste? bio-fuels? none of the above would have any serious reduction on our current usage of power needed to keep up our standard of living. at best they might slow down the yearly increasing demands of power.

do some research on the tiny percentage that alternative energy has on the national grid then do the maths and see how unfeasible it would be to convert over to an alternative energy anytime in the near furture.

due to populations increases so does our energy levels. yeah on the consumer level it would be wise to used more energy saving devices however once again this would barely slowed down the annually increasing need for energy.

in kent there are plans for another coal fire power station that is 20% less co2 cleaner than existing ones, this is the most logical route for now.

furture options are more nuclear power stations (less of an option more likely a fact). what do you think of nuclear power?

reality for certain fanatical greenies sucks so they cling on to pipe dreams. don't get caught up in the BS enjoy our current standard of living and hope we can carry on doing so in our old age.

remember it's a delicate balance between our increasing needs(''addiction'') for energy and the ability to produce it. if some day in the furture when they can produce enough power both clean and cheap i'll be all for it. but for the next 30 -50 years fossil fuels will be the main contributor, not because we want to but because we have no other choice.

Answer 8

I dont think so.  Comparing these addictions is like comparing apples and oranges.

Eventhough we all use fossil fuels on a daily basis, I think the addiction is not  directly associated with our bodies whereas my cigarette addiction is.

I'm a smoker who owns a car and I can go days without driving my car but I can not go an hour without a cigarette.

Answer 9

they do a patch for that too do they, personally i don't 'crave' fossil fuels lol

Answer 10

yeah...although they are trying to stop fossil fuels with more efficient ways, it doesn't work. if you think about it companies will loose millions if they stop fossil fuel, so there will be riots and disagreements all over the world to make fossil fuel comtinue until the earth is damaged far beyond looking back.

Answer 11

As a former smoker (of 20 years), I can say that I am much more addicted to oil.  I was able to quit smokes, but I am unable to quit driving to work (whether I want to or not).

Answer 12

Interesting question.

The sheer number of people addicted to fossil fuels (virtually everyone in a developed or developing country) is certainly much greater than were ever addicted to smoking.  We've also reached a level where we rely on fossil fuels for many essential aspects of our lives, from providing power to transporting us everywhere.

The good news is that we just need a majority of people to recognize that we need to end our addiction on oil in order to take action to end it, and we have that.  With smoking each individual person needs to recognize the addiction and take steps to end it.

So the magnitude of our addiction to fossil fuels is certainly greater, and it pervades several crucial aspects of our lives, but I think we have both sufficient opportunity and will to end the addiction.  Whether or not that's the case for smoking is up to each individual.

Answer 13

One is necessary for our way of life.  The other is harmful and not necessary and has a psychological and physical addiction.  People with a brain will be able to figure out which is which but I'm guessing there are alot of people that won't be able to figure it out.

Petroleum has many other uses besides fuel.  It is used to make the keyboard you are typing on and the asphalt you drive on.  I guess we must be "addicted" to all these useful things as well.

Answer 14

I have a feeling the fuels will get more scarce first. As oil wells dry up and coal mines are exhausted, we will be forced to look at alternatives, which are mostly cleaner.

Answer 15

There is no comparison.  The majority of people who are addicted to cigarettes, know that quitting smoking is GOOD for their health but cannot quit.

People who do not believe in the AGW theory do not buy into the "all of the expert agree" propaganda, and know that cutting back on  CO2 is BAD for our health and will cause major suffering and hardships.

We also know that co2 has nothing to do with clean air.  There are more efficient ways on cleaning up the air than cutting co2 emissions.