U.S. Takes Baby Steps While Oil Price Spike on the Horizon

Articles — By forcechange on February 16, 2009 10:08 am

It has been about three years since gas prices jumped over $3 during the most recent spike, yet we seem no less materially dependent on this volatile, polluting, and corrupting resource today than we were before the price run-up. 

Underlining the idiocy of our failure to take transformative action, the International Energy Agency warned on Monday that there could be another oil supply crunch beginning in 2010 if the global economy recovers.  Yes, this is about as insightful as noting the ‘sky is blue,’ but given the little baby steps we are taking on this issue, it seems even awareness of the obvious isn’t enough to motivate the American public to fundamentally change.

While the IEA’s solution to the problem is, of course, to increase capital investment in oil production, real change will only occur when we fundamentally change the way we live and power our transportation needs.  Nothing less than a big tax on gasoline, coupled with massive investment in public transportation, urban planning, and alternative fuels research, is what is needed.  Unfortunately, it looks like we may need the shock of another price spike before we make these hard choices.

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