Investing: oil vs solar

California is seeing exponential growth in alternative energy investments. Venture capitalists invested $654 million in 2007 in solar energy from $253 million in 2006. Read the article about how the Bay Area is beginning to invest in the future. On the flip side, Exxon Mobile's 2007 net income rose 7% from 2006 due to escalations in oil prices. Of course, they could continue to see this upswing for a few more years as oil becomes increasingly more challenging to find and the price of a barrel grows beyond $100. It seems absurd to me to that a company can make such an enormous profit off of our world's resource depletion. I suppose, you're good (for a while) if you have crude oil investments and good if you have solar technology investments, but wouldn't it feel better if you were making money off of a promising future rather than one based upon desperation?