$100 oil should be a call to action

1/10/08
It’s only a number, an arbitrary dividing line on a trajectory that’s far beyond expectations to begin with. But when oil prices briefly passed the $100-per-barrel mark last week, it shocked observers and once again reminded consumers that the days of cheap energy are over.
There are so many factors that determine the price of oil that it often seems regulators are making it up as they go. Maybe unrest in Pakistan is to blame on a particular day, but no one ever knows for sure. There’s no denying, though, that the majority of world supplies are found beneath some of the most volatile regions in the world.
The Middle East would not be the focal point of U.S. foreign policy if we didn’t covet the oil underneath it. Other options, like Venezuela, Russia and Nigeria, don’t add much in terms of reliability. And everyone, around the world, will inevitably run out.
Gasoline prices continue to reach unheard-of heights, with the Bridgeport area reporting an average of $3.35 per gallon this week. But that’s just one way rising oil prices hit consumers where it hurts. Almost everything we buy is linked to the price of oil somehow, because it all has to get from where it’s made to where we buy it. That means fuel for trucks, planes and shipping, and those costs are passed along to consumers.
The only long-term option is to remove our economy from oil’s yoke, but that is a long, torturous road. Alternative energy technology in this country is about 20 years behind where we would need it to be to give our economy a smooth transition away from oil.
But that doesn’t mean we stop trying. The state and federal governments need to redouble efforts to develop workable alternative energy solutions. Conservation must take precedence. The benefits to be gained from losing our dependence on oil — in air quality, economic vitality and wars we don’t have to fight, to name a few — justify all the sacrifices we are likely to face.
Oil has fallen back below the $100-a-barrel mark, but don’t expect it to stay there. In a global competition with emerging economies over a finite resource, prices are only headed in one direction — up. We must all work toward a future where that fact won’t determine our economic potential.