If there has been any benefit of high priced oil, it has been the renewed focus in energy efficient technologies and green living not seen since the 1970’s. Now that oil has begun its fall to more sustainable levels, will we continue in our quest for improved energy efficiencies, or will we go back to our old ways?
Over the last 10 months, the vast majority of Americans began making significant strides in improving their vehicles’ fuel efficiency, reducing the amount of energy use in their homes, and installing renewable energy heating and cooling systems.
Light truck, and SUV sales plummeted, and automobile consumers began demanding more fuel efficient vehicles, and Detroit has finally taken notice.
People relied more heavily on public transportation and carpooling as a more economical way to commute to work and run errands.
Virtually every aspect of our lives became prefaced with the question “how much gas is this going to cost”.
Oil has fallen nearly 50% from its record high of $147 in mid July, and analysts predict that prices could fall even further. Even the threat of reduced production from OPEC who controls over 40% of the world’s proven oil reserves has done nothing to stymie oil’s drop.
We’ve all made great progress in reducing the amount of oil we use, but there is still a great amount of improvement to be made. I encourage all of us to continue in our individual quests to lead “greener” lives, and not let the prospect of “cheap” oil cloud our environmental judgments.
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post! I think it is very important that we not become complacent. It is a good time to continue to develop and invest in alternative energy so that next time oil spikes, we will be better prepared.
Oil is a finite resource. As such, over the long term, it can only go up, since supply will be ever dwindling. While alternative energy technologies require bigger upfront costs right now, renewables offer a resource that does not diminish. Over time, and as we use American innovation to improve technology, they will become more cost efficient.
We need to stop our short-term thinking and shift to the long-term.
It really does seem our collective push for alternative energy is strongest when oil prices are up. Honestly I don’t know if this is a true measure of public opinion but it seems clear.
We are a complacent people in many ways. No immediate, critical problem often means zero activism on a worthwile scale – and oil prices sliding back down means the issue is less critical for the average American who is absorbed in a paycheck to paycheck, “get through the day” lifestyle.
We need leadership that is strongly focused on alternative energy to keep us motivated. Of course the responsibility will always really rest on the masses.
I hope public opinion stays firm on the need for new energy sources and the next few years (I believe) will be a crucial time.
I honestly thought that we were beginning to make serious progress in shifting our energy “paridigm”.
Only time will tell indeed!
Then again, we also run the risk of over-regulation and bureaucracies that exist for no other reason than to collect fees. I am no expert and I have no facts to back me up, but “carbon credits” comes to mind. Need carbon credits? I’ll sell you some.
We need to come together as consumers and demand even higher economy from the market. The market is responding, out of all the new cars I see on the LA freeways, Toyota is dominating. Every new car is a Prius or a Yaris, or a new TDI VW. We also need to tell our government not to give any of our money to Detroit and their model of supreme inefficiency. If you thought the Chevy Volt was exciting, look at the Aptera Typ-1.
Oil prices are beginning to subside mostly because, as you’ve noted, demand for oil in this country went down ~8% this year.
The price is not shifting because we found new resources in the Earth.
I’m only biking now.
Prog Pete,
Strides that we have made to reduce our energy use have indubitably affected oil prices a little bit (albeit a tiny fraction).
However, the huge run up into July 08 really got people going on seeking new sources of energy both sustainable and unsustainable (new oil reserves).
Great advances were made in people simply conserving the amount of energy they used.
The biggest reason oil prices declined worldwide is acutally due to speculators pulling out of the market fearing a worldwide slowdown in the economy.
Still, now that oil prices are low, I hope that we don’t go back to our “old ways” as outlined in the article.
Regards,
Ben