Why not ban oil? At least in public places?

A day does not go by without some reminder that somebody somewhere wants to ban smoking. The list of places where a person can smoke gets smaller everyday. And that is certainly understandable-it smells, it causes disease, it takes up money that other consumer goods and services, plus the government, would like to get their hands on.

Another thing that people want to ban is guns. They require training to use properly, they are routinely used by lunatics and gang members, which makes them at least appear to be dangerous. Plus, a call to ban guns always gets a politician an irresistible chance to get their name in the paper, or on TV.

So why not ban oil? It is difficult to find. It is dirty, dangerous and expensive to harvest, expensive to transport, plus it drives world geopolitics in a direction that guarantees international conflict. (Plus every body hates the “big” oil companies, so why not screw them once and for all?)

Not much good to say about cigarettes, guns… or oil.

Pressure to ban cigarettes and guns is unrelenting.

Why not ban oil while we are at it?