they forgot ROFLERCOPTERS
Please don’t read sarcasm into the title of this post, it’s not. I’m being totally serious. I LOVE high gas prices. Every time I pass by a gas station with a number I haven’t ever seen in the “ones” decimal place I smile with a glee not unfamiliar to a child that’s been gifted a new puppy. Why, you ask? It’s not just that Americans drove 11 BILLION fewer miles this past March. Or that demand for gas has fallen for the first time in seventeen years. The real reason I’m so happy is because high prices are the only way to get people to pay attention and give a damn. With that attention comes a change in perspective. The smart car driver isn’t the crazy granola eating neighbor, he’s the foreteller who’s not spending $200.00 a month on gas.
Oh, it gets better! The higher gas prices get, the less competitive oil becomes against wind, solar, and geothermal technologies. And these aren’t the musings some random blogger. Global investment in renewable energy has risen %333 since 2004 (30 billion to 100 billion). And shows no sign of slowing down:
“The finance community has been investing at levels that imply disruptive change is now inevitable in the energy sector,” says Eric Usher, Head of the Energy Finance Unit at the UN. Usher said the UN’s “report puts full stop to the idea of renewable energy being a fringe interest of environmentalists. It is now a mainstream commercial interest to investors and bankers alike.”
I love it. ”Fringe interest of environmentalists.” Ha! If by “fringe interest” you mean being ahead of the curve, then yes, you’re spot on. Freaking gNoobs. Was it really that big of surprise to Wall Street that gas would eventually run out and that even before it ran out prices would get a bit crazy? I mean, part of the reason the picture at the top of this post doesn’t have numbers to represent high gas prices is because when I typed “high gas prices” into google images all of the pictures were still in the $3.00 p/g range, a good dollar or so below the average price now. So, with an effort to keep this post relevant, I chose a picture that would stand the test of time and seven dollar a gallon gas prices.
So, with that, I call out all the major oil producing nations: Keep raise those prices and I’ll be happy to watch with glee as you dig your own financial graves.
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July 29th, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Thomas L. Friedman was speaking, I think it was at the National Governors Assoc, three years ago. He was advocating raising the price of gas overnight to 5 dollars per gallon. His explanation was basically what you said in your post. It’s all about motivation. The wealthy would continue to drive, while the the sudden drop in demand for oil among the rest of us would drive innovation. Hell yes
July 30th, 2008 at 9:53 am
If one of our leaders were to do that their political career would swallow a bullet. I much prefer the market inflation, no one to blame but ourselves for using it all up. And, if we truly have reached peak oil, there will be quite the surge in prices not too far into the future.
July 30th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Market inflation is for wimps, and so is practical realism. Take a stand! This is the internet!
July 31st, 2008 at 6:31 am
Shit, you’re right! The combination of anonymity and unaccountability is making me DRUNK WITH POWER!