06.10.2008: Everything

In my opinion, this is just the beginning. When gas tops $10 a gallon THEN perhaps we’ll see the US public demand that our government seek alternative energy sources and demand that everything in our lives be more energy efficient. That day is not so very far away. (And this might actually be a good thing if we consider our carbon footprints). In a recent New York Times review of two books addressing the Middle East, Dexter Filkins points out that in 2003 a barrel of oil was $30 a gallon. It’s now what? $138? At this rate, gas will pass the $10 mark in a couple of years.

For years the economic experts and financial masters of the universe told us that oil prices wouldn’t significantly mess with the economy. Think again. Those guys were so insulated in their high paying jobs with corner offices, that they had no reason or will to see otherwise. Denial is a wonderful thing.
Of course, every business that involves transporting people and goods from one place to another will be impacted by the rising price of oil: commuters (naturally), parts for manufacturing, food trucked across the continent, all of those Netflix and Amazon packages (obviously), and even regular mail will be affected.

Paint, computer and television screens, mobile phones, light bulbs, cushions, paper, mattresses, car seats, carpets, steering wheels and polyesters are all made with materials derived from refined oil and natural gas. They’re all going to cost twice as much. If oil was $30 a few years ago and now it’s more than four times as much, well, there will be a lag and some belt tightening, but eventually the costs will be passed on.

This sounds depressing and ominous, but I sense that one’s quality of life is not actually tied to these goods, and is certainly not tied to the automobile and all the roads and services it’s demanded for almost a century. US commuters, for example, will probably blame the Arab world, but will also look for alternate solutions, like decent public transportation, and living closer to their place of work, which is also a good thing. In fact, after some very nasty times we could — if we don’t let our anger and pain get the better of us — emerge with a better quality of life than what we have now.