The Observer would like to give the leadership award of the week to President Arroyo of the Philippines who while being preoccupied with terrorist attacks last week and a fradulent impeachment attempt on her office, has rallied the Filipino people to put aside politics and come together to confront the looming oil crisis that is affecting the Philippines.
She has ordered an Oil summit and has ordered cutbacks of oil consumption in all the departments. There is even a report of bike lanes being designated in Manila in preparation for the surge of bike traffic.
Click on the post for the entire Philippine oil story.
It must be hard for Americans to think back to the news conference when Jimmy Carter, decked out in his button down sweater, asked Americans to cut back on their energy usage. He sure took ridicule for his leadership back then. It sure looks like leadership now. It has been a while since Americans were asked to cut back. Maybe it's time to get the heavy sweaters out and get the bike ready. I sure wish the old railroad bed was ready. It could get a little tricky on the bike on Hwy 14.
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As bad as prices are today, the surprising fact is that gasoline is still not as expensive as it was in 1981, when adjusted for inflation.
ReplyDeleteI think that may have been true anytime, until about this week. Looks like the historical high was about $2.60. I think the national average just hit that this week. Cut and paste link below into your browser for dept. of energy historical data
ReplyDeletehttp://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/other/elpaso/sld002.html
The problem is that China and India are sending demand on gasoline through the roof and there is a finite amount of crude oil available. The web address above shows a spike for several years in the 80's. I don't think what we are experiencing now is a spike. Communities are more spread out (urban sprawl) creating more commuting, larger vehicles in the U.S. mean more demand and nations entering the world gas market that were using rickshaw carts more than cars in the 80's. We have done a poor job of weaning ourselves from fossil fuels. The sooner we lesson our demand for the better off we will be from a financial and national security standpoint. Unfortunately, most of what this months energy bill did was subsidize the same things we have always used.