If you have been thinking that all these were "war for oil", then it means you haven't seen nothing yet. Carola Hoyos writes what the real situation is in oil industry and what kind of future waits for the countries with oil-dependant economies. An interesting read, originally published on Financial Times and clipped from Common Dreams:

There's a lot of effort being put into the Canadian oil sands. It's currently profitable to extract now, but it's pollution rate is high.

I'd rather see the money used to develop better use of ethanol and veggie oil

Ethanol and Veggie Oil are going to have major impacts as well. Even at the small amounts that are being produced today, corn prices are being affected.