Sung Park for The New York Times
In the closing days of this election there is all kinds of talk of a New Deal scale investment in infrastructure. But what? Roads? Bridges? A great example of forward-thinking infrastructure investment is the Erie Canal that has been connecting New York City and the Atlantic ocean with the Great Lakes since 1825. This year traffic almost tripled over the previous year. The reason? Christopher Maag writes in the New York Times:
What is happening to all of our Conservative thinkers? Yesterday Conrad Black called for a massive New Deal scale job creation intervention; Today former Bush speechwriter David Frum calls for a tax creating a floor on oil prices to keep them from falling too far.
It is always interesting to look at different forms of measurement. Gas has dropped a lot recently so this guy got a raise. This is from a registration drive from the Obama campaign, which is closed now so we cannot be accused of bias. ::Thunderblog...
Frances Chapman at SolveClimate has an interesting question: Why invest in losers? if you are in the nationalization business, why not go after a winner, and solve climate turmoil instead of financial turmoil? Why not nationalize Exxon-Mobil? She writes:
As some of you may know, Congress is on summer break and they did not address the current energy and climate crisis at hand. Not only did they not address gas prices, but they also failed to renew the clean energy tax cuts that will expire soon. These cuts fund solar, wind, and other renewable energy. Job loss and wasted time could be the result of this inaction by Congress. However, there is something, we the people can do!
Listen to Michele (video is fake)
I have to give Minnesota representative Michele Bachmann credit for figuring out the secret hidden agenda and making it public, the real reason Democrats and environmentalists want to make the United States "the only country that has made it illegal to access its own energy."
"This is their agenda," Bachmann states bluntly. "...
Everybody's gotta have someone to blame and you can't always blame Canada, so The Wall Street Journal has compiled a list of 50 things you can blame on the high price of oil. Some of the interesting ones:
3. Some schools are considering route changes that would create longer walks to the bus stop, raising safety concerns. (The Gazette, Maryland)
8. Kangaroo harvesters are seeking alternative careers. (Australian Broadcasting Corp.)
Jim Morrison said "When I was back there in seminary school, There was a person there Who put forth the proposition That you can petition the Lord with prayer. Petition the Lord with prayer. Petition the Lord with prayer.
You cannot petition the Lord with prayer!"
From the Exhibition Sorry, Out of Gas
Want to find twice as much gas as can be pumped out of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge every day? Just get every driver to slow down, drive just 5% less, and keep their tires properly inflated. That is what the Alliance to Save Energy says, as reported in CNN Money.
While your average gallon-sized milk jug hasn’t changed much in decades, it’s about to undergo a significant change destined to cut fuel, labor, and carbon costs all at the same time.
Turns out these new, alien-type jugs are cheaper to ship, better for the environment, cost less, and even provide fresher milk to the store; with some milk going from the cow’s udder to supermarket shelf within hours.
But that doesn’t mean everyone loves them.
...
Harry Campbell in New York Times
An interesting article in the New York Times where they as ten writers about the effects of expensive gas. A yay and a nay:
Robert Riech: Fuel for Inequality "AS if the widening wage gap weren’t bad enough, the bottom half of the American work force — everyone who will earn less than about $42,000 this year — is getting hit by the equivalent of a whopping regressive tax in the form of soaring gas prices. And fuel isn’t a discretionary item like cable TV that can be cut from the family budget.:... ::More
When we talk about housing, in North America the discussion almost always comes down to 1) own a house in the 'burbs or 2) rent an apartment in the city. One commentator at Bloomberg wrote:
"With gasoline at $4-plus a gallon, lots of thinking people see the U.S. undergoing a vast demographic shift, with millions of people moving back to cities. The suburbs, and those places beyond the suburbs, the exurbs, will dry up and blow away.
In a break with the time-honored practice of blaming oil companies for high gas prices, Consumer Reports released their latest Auto Pulse Survey on Thursday indicating that 77% of consumers said the root of high gas prices lies with the government’s failure to implement effective energy policy.
Now the question is whether those same respondents realize that even higher gas prices are necessary to break the cycle, or if they’re just wishing for a handout to foot their latest bill.
...
We previously reported on Jeff Rubin of CIBC World Market's prediction of gas costing $7 to $10 per gallon in four years; Now Rubin makes his prediction of its impact.
Over the next four years, we are likely to witness the greatest mass exodus of vehicles off America’s highways in history. By 2012, there should be some 10 million fewer vehicles on American roadways than there are today—a decline that dwarfs all previous adjustments including those during the two OPEC oil shocks....
We don't always agree with Tom Friedman of the New York Times, but he sure nailed George Bush's new energy plan:
Two years ago, President Bush declared that America was “addicted to oil,” and, by gosh, he was going to do something about it. Well, now he has. Now we have the new Bush energy plan: “Get more addicted to oil.”
Source: TreeHuggerBookmark/Search this post with:
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Technorati