That Free Market Thingy is a Son of a Gun
This will be surprising to liberals:
The US is starting to break its “addiction” to foreign oil as high prices, more efficient cars, and the use of ethanol significantly cut the share of its oil imports for the first time since 1977.
The country’s foreign oil dependency is expected to fall from 60 per cent to 50 per cent in 2015, before rising again slightly to 54 per cent in 2030, according to the head of the Department of Energy’s statistical arm…
…The US decline in foreign oil dependency is already becoming more visible, with imports making up 57.9 per cent in the first three months of this year, down from 58.2 last year.
Guy Caruso, head of the US Energy Information Administration, said that that trend was set to continue as people adjusted to high oil prices and the impact of the Energy Independence and Security Act, which became law in December 2007, was felt.
“The 1970s is the last time we saw any significant decline in net import dependency in the US. It shows that markets do work, policy changes do work, technology does work,” Mr Caruso said.
And if prices do remain as high as they are, I expect our imports will fall even further and even faster - as I try to explain to our liberal friends who insist that bad news is always and without exception completely bad, there is frequently an upside to things, if you keep a positive attitude. I’ve been advocating for a crash program to get us away from oil, and it looks as though greedy (and rather stupid) speculators are giving a massive - even if unintended - boost to my desire.
At any rate, the market works - as prices rise, alternatives will be developed and current supplies more efficiently used. It should always be kept in mind that petroleum, itself, was developed in a response to the last crisis in oil supplies…namely, whale oil…the world started to run out, and so alternatives were developed. Now, we’re just going to do it again - government can help smooth things out, if properly done, but to try and decree an end to oil would be counter-productive. Just wait for it, and it will happen - if prices remain high. If they come down, then there’ll be a pause…until the next time they rise.
12 comments May 20th, 2008
