Good for Bad Reasons

Evidently, the only way the US will get serious about energy conservation is when the price of gasoline gets prohibitive. So, for that reason, rising gas prices aren't all bad. But think about this. What we've seen recently is record-high profits for big oil companies, not just record-high revenue. If I understand economics correctly, that means that even if it is costing oil companies more to produce oil, they're still making more off the oil they have. Supply and demand alone don't explain the huge profit margins.

And if you think this is mere conspiracy dreaming, see if gas prices don't come down some in the next few months. Even big oil knows that you don't want to kill the goose laying the golden egg, i.e. they don't really want people to use less gas, they just want it to cost more.

Ultimately, the best argument for energy conservation and, more importantly, for getting serious about alternative energy, isn't the high price in dollars for oil but the high price in national security and autonomy. The only reason Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Russia have the power they do is because they hold so much of the world's oil and natural gas ... period. To understand how much better things could be, imagine for a moment a magical world in which we made all our own energy right here in our own country and were not dependent on any one. Do you see how that would completely change our international diplomacy? We could actually reserve our military for real threats and even indulge in being the world's policemen, if that's what we wanted to do. Or we could just mind our own business and not interfere in other countries. But at least we would be free to choose, which we are not right now.