Have you ever heard the term "demand destruction?" If you have not, you soon will.

In basic terms, it is a permanent downward shift on the demand curve in the direction of lower demand of a commodity, in this case energy products, typically induced by a prolonged period of high prices or constrained supply.

Over the past several weeks, we have seen skyrocketing energy costs. Those of course are the visible costs which we see every time we go to the gas station or fill our oil tank at home. However, most people lose sight of the true costs of increasing energy through products manufactured using fossil fuels.

Last week, the U.S. and other countries cut off the import of Russian oil, which we were told was a necessary "sacrifice" to stick it to Putin. We were warned by the feckless Joe Biden and his spokesperson, as well as by media and members of Congress that paying higher prices at the pump is "patriotic."

We were lectured by the insufferable Stephen Colbert that paying $10 or $14 a gallon for gas was the right thing to do, and all we had to do is buy a $100,000 Tesla like he drives.