Drone attacks on two major Saudi oil facilities caused extensive damage. Estimates suggest that, for now at least, Saudi oil output will be halved as a result, reducing global production by about 6%.

The media are full of speculation about who is really responsible for the attacks and what the responses will be. I would like to suggest what the response ought to be. The U.S. and indeed the rest of the world need to expand, enhance, and accelerate efforts to eliminate the dependence on fossil fuels.

This drop in Saudi oil production will reduce world supplies and drive up prices. This may be a boon for other oil producers, but it will damage world economies and hurt consumers. The global recession that many experts are expecting will probably arrive sooner.

The situation as it stands is bad enough, but if war breaks out between Iran and Saudi Arabia (and who knows how many other countries in the region) things will rapidly go from bad to much, much worse.

The best way to avoid the direct effects of instabilities in the oil markets is to not need the oil in the first place. The fact that an accelerated reduction in the burning of fossil fuels would be a positive response to climate change is a bonus. I would think that even people who are convinced that climate change is a hoax can see the logic of not needing a resource with so much volatility associated with it.