The stupidity of burning oil

Oil is a resource that has a vast range of uses, from plastics to pharmaceuticals. The more oil is burned, the less oil is available for creating high-end goods, the less the utility realized and the less the money gained.
 
Meanwhile there are any number of other technologies that can meet people's energy needs at equal and greater level without destroying what can't be replaced and without wasting a resource that has many other uses.

Burning oil is as dumb from the economic standpoint as it is dumb from the environmental standpoint. Oil companies will realize far greater gain by doing less burning of oil and more using of oil for production of higher-end goods.