What you learned in school
Science classes taught that oil, coal, and natural gas were so abundant that depletion was not a concern for human civilization. Students learned about vast untapped reserves that would last for centuries or millennia. Textbooks presented fossil fuels as essentially unlimited resources, with new discoveries constantly expanding available supplies. The focus was on extraction technology improvements rather than conservation, as scarcity was not considered a realistic possibility.
What we know now
Science classes taught that oil, coal, and natural gas were so abundant that depletion was not a concern. Students learned about vast untapped reserves that would last for centuries or millennia. While new extraction technologies have extended fossil fuel availability, these resources are finite and becoming more expensive and environmentally damaging to extract. Peak oil theory suggests that conventional oil production has plateaued. Climate change concerns now limit fossil fuel use regardless of availability. The "unlimited" mindset ignored both geological limits and environmental consequences.