One week ago, gasoline at the local service station was $2.99 for "87" grade. Today it's $3.17, after passing through $3.07 fairly quickly. (The price of oil, by the way, went over $89/bbl, earlier today, but has since dropped back a bit.)
Now I read about the severe cold in Atlanta, Georgia, and how folks are standing in line for government aid to help pay for heating bills.
"I never thought I would be in the line," [applicant Deandre] Marshall said. "It's almost like being in a soup line during the great depression."The fact that "we've" gotten to this point in the US is very, very frustrating for me. It's frustrating, because I know it didn't have to be this way. I am absolutely convinced the US lost a decade tilting at windmills (literally) when there were better options. In my mind, the last decade, 2000 - 2010, will be remembered as the lost decade for the US for achieving energy dependence.
I don't like it, but I guess things happen that way.
Since President Nixon, the federal government has talked about energy independence, and in fact, it's gotten worse, not better. Under the current administration, the rate of going backwards with regard to energy independence has accelerated.
But I digress. With regard to the folks in Atlanta, natural gas would go a long way to help these folks. New York state has put a moratorium on shale gas drilling until at least May, 2011. It's just a matter of time before Sears starts advertising [Benjamin] Franklin stoves again, and folks start burning trees.
On a related note, Europe is experiencing a devastating early-winter cold spell. By the way, this cold weather was predicted: this article was published October 4, 2010 -- forecasters predict the coldest winter in Europe in 1,000 years. Not ten years, not one hundred years, but 1,000 years.
With regard to price of gasoline, ... well, I've already talked about that ... won't start again....
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