Market forces

I feel like I should rail on congress for a little while. There's this whole "we should drill everywhere!" thing. And it's kind of irritating me. Oh, I'm no fan of the caribou and I don't think they need that much oil. But here's the thing: we're on the cusp of something great here in terms of energy policy.

Super-high gas prices suck. And I'm not a fan of spending $70 dollars to fill up a Honda Accord. But, here's the thing, in the last two or three months, there's been a huge amount of perceptible movement towards alternative energy and fuels. People were actually looking for ways to use gasoline more sensibly! GM announced they were ending production of Hummers. Bikes were becoming popular. And then, well, today, oil prices fell, the President ended the executive order banning offshore drilling. Ah, cheap gas is just around the corner.

I say no. I'm actually, I can't frickin' believe this, siding with Nancy Pelosi on this one. No more drilling. Not because we don't need the oil, no, it's because we do.

We have a problem. We're addicted to oil. We need to quit it cold turkey because there doesn't seem to be an incremental way to do it otherwise. And, here's the kicker, the less we'll need oil, the cheaper it will be, and the more enticing OPEC will try to make it.

Oh, it's going to suck. People are going to suffer, things are going to get more expensive, and there's going to be a lag to get alternatively fueled products out there. But, there's no motivation to do it unless people are willing to use them. For people to be willing to use them, gas has to be an unacceptable option. At $4.00 + a gallon, that's about right. That starts making high speed, electric, trains look good as a means of transportation, doesn't it?

Auto makers, in order to survive are already pushing alternative vehicles out, electric ones too. To handle the load of those vehicles on the national grid will require some massive investment in that infrastructure, and the construction of modern nuclear plants (and perhaps fusion plants in the next decade or two).

In the last couple months, the market has done more for alternative fuels than the Bush administration, and the Clinton administration, in the last 16 years. 16 years!!!

Oh, what else is evil about oil? Imagine a world where oil wasn't a big deal? How important would the Middle East be then? Exactly. Take a hike guys.

We're jonesing right now. If oil gets cheap we're going right back on it. So close....