Quote:
Originally Posted by Formula413
Take a deep breath. Try to look at it this way: $8+ a gallon gasoline would go a long way toward forcing people to find new sources of energy, so that perhaps we could finally move away from oil and on to cleaner, cheaper, renewable fuels that won't be subject to wild price fluctuations due to circumstances totally beyond our control. That would be a good thing, yes? It would hurt in the short term, but it would ultimately be for the best.
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So, if fuel does go up to $8 tomorrow but new energy sources are a decade or more away how widespread do you think the suffering would be? With the community outreach work I do with my lodge brothers I see how tough it is for many people and heating season isn't really here yet! With an economy that is so tied to energy costs there would be dire unintended consequences from such a narrow point of view.
We've already seen the result of "unintended consequences" with ethanol made from corn. Corn prices have risen, which has effects all the way up the food chain. The biggest losers have been people in other countries who rely on inexpensive corn (mostly grown here) as a basic foodstuff.
Hey, I want cheap, clean, renewable fuel as much as anybody, but I'm unwilling to burden a significant portion of the population while I wait for it to happen. Time will eventually bring us more of the energy we want, but trying to force the issue with energy price hikes will upset an already tenuously balanced economic apple cart. We have enough economic problems without doubling the price of energy.