The need for radical engagement should also lead oil and gas companies to address the threat posed by climate change head-on.

But Brazil's probably in the lead as far as biofuels are concerned—they've got to the point where they don't need to import any oil now.

Or when steep prices for oil lead, curiously enough, to lower American interest rates, because the money the Saudis and the Russians make from crude is spent on American Treasury bonds.