Economists are fretting over the stability of the micro-recovery they've witnessed in the markets over the past few weeks if Americans get hit with the whammy of high fuel prices again this summer. They are specifically worried about gas as it edges closer to the magical number of $3.50 a gallon, the price at which market groups noticed that Americans finally took notice of the actual cost of driving places and started to change their driving behavior. While part of me truly hopes for gas prices to continue to rise, the other part of me (the part that likes air conditioning, nice cars, food and drink from far off places, etc.) understands that one more summer like last summer and we may have a serious problem on our hands. When people are spending their money on gas, they aren't spending it on other stuff. And since we have an economy primarily based on the buying and selling of said 'other stuff,' people may start cutting back again, regardless of the pleas of Big Business and the government. All the stimulus money in the world cannot make people spend their money on useless crap like iPhones and ShamWow's, especially when they're a hell of a lot more concerned about whether they'll have gas money to get to work or grocery money to eat.
I am, sadly, very pessimistic on the front of energy and America's future. This nation continues to listen to the wrong voices, closing its collective eyes and hoping against hope that we will find some kind of energy miracle that will continue to allow us to live 'The Good Life' of fancy electronics, 5000 square foot houses, big SUV's, and unprecedented mobility. Closer to the truth of the matter, I firmly believe, is that at some point in the next 30 years, we will see life as we know it fall to pieces. We are nowhere near ready for any kind of oil shortage like the ones we had in the mid-1970's and early 1980's. A prolonged energy crisis in this country, especially in our present weakened state would lead to a serious depression that may last a decade in the best case scenario. Worst case for this situation is something many people would be afraid to consider. The question remains how to prepare for it.
Rather than going out and spending the money on public transportation, the highway lobbyists convinced the government to spend money on roads. Even with the amount of money the Obama Administration committed to light rail and high-speed rail, it is microscopic compared to the amount spend on highway and road repair and construction. Something must be done to reign in our culture's love affair with the automobile and allow a return to mass transit. Hopefully, the credit crunch and increasing fuel prices will cause us to recognize that this problem is not going away. The time for action is now; because every day that we spend not acting is one more day of preparation lost forever.
