When there has been NO development for a technology that worked 60-70 years ago that is LOST technology.

Technology is discovered and then evolves. Infusion of investment matures the technology and concurrently the price comes down. With no investment the technology goes nowhere.

More importantly when a tipover point in technology comes a new technology (jobs etc) follow behind. The new Chinese electric cars and Japanese hybrids are but the beginning.

We in the west do not have an exclusive right to cheap oil. When we balanced the scale with small cars and great mpg in the eighties we bought the time to find real alternatives. We wasted that time and that price now might not be pleasant. With our infrastructure and inventiveness the future is still ours to lose. It won't be forever.