> If you include the costs of pollution and climate change, I'm sure the "total value" of the extracted oil is well in the negative.
This is absolutely not true. Oil and gas has lifted billions out of poverty and increased everyone’s quality of life hugely. Especially in “third world” countries where there are no affordable alternative energy sources.
Fossil fuels have certainly helped improve the lives of billions. At the same time, the negative impact can't be overstated, and only gets worse with time (the more the climate changes, the higher the future cost).
Additionally, oil extracted in California for domestic consumption doesn't affect third world countries, so it's irrelevant what positive impact it might make halfway across the world.
I feel like manufacturing the collapse of the very ecosystems that sustain our civilization might be a steep price to pay for a short moment's increase in living standards. But i guess as long as we're all dead before the time to repay the debt comes, we can pretend like we're self-made millionaires and not living on borrowed money?
This is absolutely not true. Oil and gas has lifted billions out of poverty and increased everyone’s quality of life hugely. Especially in “third world” countries where there are no affordable alternative energy sources.