Is the long term effects of high oil prices bad or good?

Question

In the short term high oil prices hurt the economy, but in the long term they may actually beneficial by increasing the demand of alternative energy sources.

Answer 1

High prices are never really good.  Yes the demand for alternative fuels will increase, but most of those fuels are more expensive to produce and yield lower amounts of energy.  The only way they stay competitive now is through heavy government subsidies.  If you want lower oil prices and to lessen dependence on foreign oil, which by the way is way overexaggerated since most of our oil comes from Mexico, Canada and Venezuela, we need to start drilling domestically.  We have vast reserves in Alaska untapped.  If we can drill up there safely and efficiently, why shouldn't we do that?