Peak oil may have been reached in 2007, if so; a new source of energy will be needed. Coal would be a poor substitute as it produces twice as many greenhouse gas emissions when burnt, and biofuels have huge drawbacks, as expected when food is converted to fuel. Ethics and morals should have a major impact on the policies aiding the transition from peak oil to the eventual much reduced per capita energy consumption. Decision makers must have does humankind have a _right to endanger posterity by continuing profligate use of fossil energy?