Help me understand this argument

The expansion of fracking over the past decade dwarfs any costly advancements in renewable energy sources.

Fracking is one of the main reasons for the current collapse of the price of a barrel of oil.

ETA: Although CAFE standards have been inching up - no question the current administration has been aggressive in this area. Fuel efficient vehicle technology is another factor to be considered - but, again, dwarfed by fracking.

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Our demand from them and other countries is much lower now, thus lower gas prices.

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Lower gas prices

Thanks!

Alternative energy advancements have contributed a pittance to the drop in the price of oil (and thus gasoline). Us using more of our own (via fracking) and the current in-fighting among OPEC have contributed faaaaaar more.

I'm all for healthy debate and friendly if heated conversation. But if this guy really believes what he's saying then I think I'd talk about things more suited to his intellect, like fashion or reality TV. And if he doesn't believe it then you're just feeding a troll by entertaining him.

Oh, he believes it. And normally I walk away rolling my eyes. However, all of this is in response to a simple statement I made. He proceeded to be very condescending and insulting while copying several mutual business associates/friends. I can't let that stand if I'm correct. I just replied with the graphs below and told him that I was done with the petty argument.

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don't you think those OPEC players would be finding a way to exploit the situation and raise oil prices? Our demand from them and other countries is much lower now, thus lower gas prices.

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OPEC's major customer is Europe, not the US.
OPEC has the power to increase oil prices simply by cutting production. The problem with that is a drastically decreased stream of capital. It's not like OPEC countries have diversified economies. They rely on selling oil.

So the high prices you were complaining about a few years ago weren't Obama's fault? You guys said so at the time. As far as our investment in alternative - I think investing in American companies is a good idea. Oil is a finite resource - some country is gonna get rich off of that alternative technology - see the internet. Gore didn't invent it but he damn sure funded it. In 83/84 he and a few other senators appropriated $500 mill for this thing called the internet. People you support made fun of him and called him Senator Atari. 10 years later lots of companies went bankrupt but a whole lot made a stack of money and so did their stock holders. What effect did the US "inventing" the internet have on our economy - near and long term? Some work out others don't but whatever technology they developed is US

Well, he conceded all of my points and then replied:

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Renewable energy in the United States accounted for 12.9 percent of the domestically produced electricity in 2013, 11.2 percent of total energy generation. As of 2014, more than 143,000 people work in the solar industry. Hydroelectric power is currently the largest producer of renewable power in the U.S. U.S. wind power installed capacity now exceeds 60,000 MW and supplies 4% of the nation's electricity. Texas is firmly established as the leader in wind power development, followed by Iowa and California. Since the U.S. pioneered the technology with Solar One, several solar thermal power stations have also been built. The largest of these solar thermal power stations is the SEGS group of plants in the Mojave Desert with a total generating capacity of 354 MW, making the system the largest solar plant of any kind in the world.The largest photovoltaic power plant in the world are the Desert Sunlight Solar Farm, a 550 MW solar power plant under construction in Riverside County, California and the Topaz Solar Farm, a 550 MW photovoltaic power plant, being built in San Luis Obispo County, California. The Geysers in Northern California is the largest complex of geothermal energy production in the world.Demand for petroleum products is declining worldwide. The thirst for oil is declining in Europe, where unemployment and industrial activity is down, and Japan, where the use of oil by utilities is being replaced by natural gas and coal. Slowing economic growth in China also plays a role in decreased global demand, says MoneyWatch. The Middle East oil cartel, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which wants to keep oil prices at $100 per barrel, has been forced by the market to decrease its prices. As of Monday, the international benchmark price per barrel was $85.25.

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Looks like I need to do more research on this topic.