Strange enough, a country like Sudan has a fair bit of oil, too. In spite of the continuous butchering of unarmed citizens by the Janjaweed militias, no American presence there. Kosovo has no oil, so what are all those U.S. forces doing there? I'm not convinced that the production of oil warrants American military support.
Viable alternatives to fossil fuels, however, have already been developed. Although ready to be produced on a large scale, reducing our dependancy on oil from "less than democratic" countries, oil seems to be the only thing made available to us. Some experts say that oil is a pillar that supports the world economy, but that's a blatant lie: MOBILITY supports the world economy, and oil is, for the time being, a prerequisite. The technology is there: biodiesel, natural gas, thermal depolymerization, hybrid cars, ultra-efficient petrol engines, the lot. There is no reason why a normal car should need more that 3 litres of fuel for 100kms (you do the maths), but it's not easy to get the automotive industries, the governments and the oil companies to agree on the urgency of the matter.
Your reply to him was very informative while mine was a bit shall we say "cute".
I hope he learns from yours,I Know I did.