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Unless something major- like a war- happens, you will never see $7. Not in my lifetime, not in yours!
How old are you, 90?
Be real. It was $10 in Europe. They greased the skids all the way to $4.75 for regular here in Connecticut. Today OPEC is talking about cutting production. A couple of strong storms are brewing in the Atlantic that could spawn a Cat 5 anytime.
It is not inconceivable that we could see $5.50 or $6.00 within 18 months. Crude has pulled back but has not fallen at the pump nearly as much. It is very easy for an event to push it back up quickly.
I don't doubt that we'll see $7 by 2015 if not before. Hopefully the car companies get on board with the higher mileage cars. However, when they do the price will adjust so that gas represents the same portion of the average person's budget, ie. higher per gallon price.
We can't do that now because all that "farmland" close to the cities has turned into suburbia.
This isn't really true, at least in general. Here in Southern California most of the recent development has been on land that is not suitable for farming (such as in the hills). There is still plenty of farmland close to Los Angeles, for example in Ventura County.
Also, pushing farming close to cities will in some cases increase the cost of the product (even ignoring land costs). Despite the fact that corn grows just fine in California, its much more expensive to grow here then in the mid-west due the lack of rainfall.
Farmers are going to grow crops where its the cheapest to do so. Increase in energy costs aren't going to force framers into or near cities, its going to force them to use alternate energies. Framers can switch to alternate energy sources much easier than the general public. Hydroponic farming doesn't really solve anything, if you grew a crop like corn this way it would dramatically increase the costs.
But we DO have it and there isn't much that can be done to undo the damage at this point. Not to mention many don't even see it as damage. I HATE the way "our" cities are laid out because I'm originally from Europe and know darn well how things stand in both places.
Exactly!
look into new urbanism. We can do something about it. BUT it will take educating the public who will then put the pressure on those in power to do something about it.
They (the Europeans), however, do not live 20 miles from their jobs, live in 4,000 sq. ft. mansions, and drive SUV's that get 10 miles to the gallon so that they get to use 4 gallons of gas a day. They drive much smaller, economic vehicles, more people use public transportation, more people carpool, and more people walk to work.
Oh, and those 65 mpg Ford cars won't be sold in the US. "For business reasons".
You apparently didn't read the article. If you had, you would see the irony in Phillip T's anti-fuel post above and then your derision of "business reasons".
Let me recap. People want hybrids, not diesel. Also, the car costs more to make than a Prius...a whopping 26,000 or so. You must either be quite young or have worked in the sheltered non-competitive shell of the government to say this.
You apparently didn't read the article. If you had, you would see the irony in Phillip T's anti-fuel post above and then your derision of "business reasons".
Let me recap. People want hybrids, not diesel. Also, the car costs more to make than a Prius...a whopping 26,000 or so. You must either be quite young or have worked in the sheltered non-competitive shell of the government to say this.
i personally rather diesel engine cars. The new ones like blutech are the ish
BUT it will take educating the public who will then put the pressure on those in power to do something about it.
That's a pipe-dream. You'll never tear people away from their high definition TVs until things are in total disarray. You can educate people all you want, but that won't stop developers from greasing the bank accounts of zoning board commissioners, or the trustees of incorporated/unincorporated townships, city councils in small towns.
If you want to exert "pressure" it's going to have to be in the form of recall petitions and referendums, and again, that requires tearing people away from their HDTVs for a few seconds.
Minor point of order . . . . anti-OIL -- not anti-fuel.
That oil = fuel mistake is a relatively short lived concept -- been around about 100 years past and probably less that 50 years future.
It is the en masse burning of OIL that is destroying our economy as it damages the environs and most anyone or anything that comes in contact with the resource wars, extraction, transportation, processing, use and outfall of the dirty crap.
In short OIL = Death.
Overall I am cool with fuel -- just make it clean, cheap, widely available, and totally renewable. Simple example -- Ausra.com
Is thinking really this difficult? Or do we just all live on a really dumb planet?
That's a pipe-dream. You'll never tear people away from their high definition TVs until things are in total disarray. You can educate people all you want, but that won't stop developers from greasing the bank accounts of zoning board commissioners, or the trustees of incorporated/unincorporated townships, city councils in small towns.
If you want to exert "pressure" it's going to have to be in the form of recall petitions and referendums, and again, that requires tearing people away from their HDTVs for a few seconds.
You have described Miami to the letter. Well played sir.
Is thinking really this difficult? Or do we just all live on a really dumb planet?
The planet isn't dumb, but many of its inhabitants apparently are.
The planet is smart enough to respond to the radid consumption of fossil fuels that took millions of years to produce, by changing the weather all over the globe, radically enough so that many of it dumb inhabitants could easily be wiped out.
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