| How can we live in the era of skyrocketing crude oil prices? | |
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| Mar 4, 2008 01:57 |   |
 | Yesterday, the oil prices made a new high, reaching about 104 dollars per bucket. Some analysts said that the main reason for the oil prices increase is US dollar's decline. It is reported that US might cut its interest rates again, which makes dollar sliding more severely. On the other hand, OPEC decides to maintain the crude oil output. They condemned those financial investors for pushing up the oil prices. Meanwhile, they agree with the analysts that the oil prices have been rising because US dollar has been declining for a while. They also said that the new high oil prices might force them to produce more oil. How does the soaring oil prices impact those countries that import a huge amount of crude oil? Two months ago, the head of US energy department warned that the high oil prices not only escalated inflation but also began to affect US economic growth. Impacted by the high oil prices, British central bank and European Central Bank were afraid that inflation might be ignited and their plan to cut the interest rates was also stopped. What should we do to survive in the era of skyrocketing oil prices? |
| Mar 4, 2008 03:24 | #1 |
| I think we should invest in renewable fuels like hydrogen or electricity and alternative power sources such as wind, solar power or NUCLEAR FUSION! |
| Mar 4, 2008 10:38 | #2 |
| For a while we will "have to pay the piper" (an expression from an old fairy tale that means we are STUCK) The world has built a society dependent on oil for power and transportation (and a myriad of other things). Fusion power MAY be the answer, but commercial fusion power plants are still a decade or more away...so oil will remain king sapping the economic strength of oil enslaved countries. You can blame this entirely on environmentalists and the environmental movement. From the Wiki, "A general movement against nuclear power arose during the last third of the 20th century, based on the fear of a possible nuclear accident, fears of radiation, nuclear proliferation, and on the opposition to nuclear waste production, transport and final storage." To be fair...there were two accidents: 3-mile island and Chernobyl. But the environmentalist clearly killed the development of fission nuclear reactors - including a project I was involved with a bit. Westinghouse was developing a pre-fabricated nuclear power plant with advanced safety controls and process regulated quality control on construction and assembly. Sadly, the cost of the lawsuits and ever tightening regulation forced Westinghouse to abandon the project. Had nuclear fission power expanded...we would have already been using many, many electric vehicles and we would have developed keystone technologies for the day when fusion power is ready for commercial use. |
| Mar 4, 2008 10:49 | #3 |
| I am sure we, the people of the USA can make many adjustments on our daily life, one of the marvelous privileges that we take for granted in this great nation of ours, is the fact that the common citizen can enjoy the goods of an open economy driven by the people. Unlike other nations where the economy is part of the state structure, the limitations of the common people are so great that in reality there is not room at all to retrieve without falling in to misery rather than poverty. That leads me to the base of this thread (How can we live in the era of skyrocketing crude oil prices?) China have, as we speak, far over half of the population in a very low living standard; unlike the average USA citizen, as the going gets tough, we can reduce our spending behavior and adjust. So, how can a Chinese peasant or city laborer reduce their spending behavior with out falling in to a deeper more remarkable level of poverty? Very difficult without a doubt! At present time, China has over 700.000.000 people living in deep poverty, which is over 50 percent of China’s general population of 1.300.000.000. The USA with a population of 300.000.000 has fewer than 13 percent people living in poverty. China’s and the USA dependency on foreign oil: is a direct knock to the must vulnerably part of the population, the poor. With more than half of the population in deep poverty: China is a very vulnerable nation to a direct attack on the state control fragile economy, by the OPEC states. |
| Mar 5, 2008 12:07 | #4 |
| By CHARLES HUTZLER, Associated Press Writer 21 minutes ago BEIJING - China's premier on Wednesday extolled the prosperity the Communist government has brought to many Chinese, yet he sounded an alarm that inflation could derail the country's rapid emergence. The mixed message in Premier Wen Jiabao's annual policy address underscored the problems Chinese leaders face in meeting public expectations for ever rising standards of living. For the first time in more than a decade, inflation is emerging as a danger at home, potentially eroding incomes of a fledgling middle class and inflaming tensions between the newly rich and the majority low-income workers and farmers. Overseas, the U.S. economic woes and trade friction with Europe could wreck key markets for job-creating export industries. "All this could adversely affect China's economic development," Wen told 2,970 delegates in his address opening the national legislature's annual session. "China is now in a critical period in its reform and development." Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent in January, the highest rate in 11 years, led by even higher costs for food and housing. Prices for coal, which feeds two-thirds of the boisterous economy's energy demand, are projected by some economists to double this year. |
| Mar 6, 2008 21:52 | #5 |
| Recent news says lots of locations with heavy industry reports power shortage and OPEC doesn’t plan to boost its oil productions. Shot up commodity price, especially oil and gold reflects people, in order to keep assets from being diluted from the depreciation of US dollar, is accumulating gold or other commodity in the vault. The high cost of energy-oil has been the culprit of inflation that is deadly harmful to economy. Latin and South East Asia debt crisis did originated from oil and were subsequently screwed up by financial systematic downward spiral. The question is since oil and its price control count up to macro economy and down to people’s daily life, whether US significant influence in Middle East should be supported or not. |
| Mar 8, 2008 00:37 | #6 |
| "Recent news says lots of locations with heavy industry reports power shortage and OPEC doesn’t plan to boost its oil productions." Why not boost its oil productions? What are they waiting for? Hope the oil price keeps surging so that they can earn more money? |
| Jun 27, 2008 03:20 | #7 |
| Nothing will bring down prices today except a tipping point in perception. Getting off and doing something to increase out petroleum supplies would be an improvement. Letting Cuba drill the Gulf is about par for the course. Any speculation in petroleum markets is justified by our record of ignorance in defining a cogent energy policy. And now our U.S presidential candidates Obama and McCain are talking about it, the issues surrounding recent discussions on US offshore drilling for oil has significant impact for all Americans. [url=http://pollclash.com]US Offshore Oil Drilling- McCain vs. Obama[/url] |
| Jul 21, 2008 17:51 | #8 |
| The U.S. and State governments do not subsidize oil prices like other countries do. Only gasoline for off-road farm equipment does not have a Federal tax and few farmers take advantage of that. We are used to paying the going rate and not expecting intervention in the price at the pump. Everyone I know has just adjusted their driving habits. However, there is serious concern for those who use oil to heat their homes in the cold Winter months. The cost will be twice what it was last year and the sales of wood stoves and pellet stoves has been increasing as people look for alternatives to paying $5,000 for fuel oil. |
| Aug 7, 2008 01:50 | #9 |
| It's sad to say, but that ever increasing oil price might eventually make us wake up and change our buying habits ... maybe it's more than time that we start buying food and products built and grown close to our home. I think that many tend to forget that those cheap products from oversea have a real impact on oil prices as well as on Global Warming. Those big cargo ships, planes and 45ft trucks do not run of love and water.. Think about this for a while: to ship a single kiwi from New Zealand to the US rejects 3 times the weight of that fruit in toxic gases in the atmosphere... Maybe it's time to choose to do more than just change our driving habits. Do you know that there's a car in India being now commercialised that work on compressed air? Why aren't your friends Obama and McCain not talking about that??... Skyrocketing crude oil prices might finally make us all wake up and do the right thing: stop this insane pollution in everything we do |
| Aug 7, 2008 12:46 | #10 |
| God saves us as we have natural gas and price almost zero. More than 80% vehicle running on CNG. Other factory/generating station also running on CNG. |
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