What are the real costs of our dependence on oil?

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The recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is expected to cost billions.  Currently BP has lost $32billion in market value and the cost of cleaning up the mess could run into the hundreds of billions of dollars when one includes the loss of income that tourist spots and fishermen are experiencing.

Clearly there is no source of energy that is perfect. The sun doesn’t shine in the night time. Wind doesn’t always blow. Oil needs to be drilled from deep under the earth’s surface and transported as does coal and the list goes on and on. So the question is not necessarily what the cost of using oil vs. another energy source is? Rather the question is, what is the cost of not diversifying our energy sources?  Depending on one source of energy increases the risk price spikes and reduces our bargaining position whether it be a household, business, municipality or country. So let’s promote the idea of energy diversity rather than championing one energy source against another.