The Floor

I'm pretty well convinced that what we need to ensure correct, consistent growth in all those hated industries of alternative energies, traditional urban planning, and public transportation is a floor on fossil fuels.

A floor on prices so that we don't lull ourselves into thinking the current price of oil is somehow transitory, that if we just wish hard enough, they will come down. Then, when prices rise more, we raise the floor again.

First of all, bottomless energy prices can be just as destructive to certain segments of the Merikan economy as topless energy. Again, it's only a matter of whose losses we are talking about. There are hundreds of markets today that are thriving on high oil; infill architects, oil pipe suppliers, motorcycle retailers, light rail mechanics, high end prostitution rings, bicycle repair shops, wind generator manufacturing, the list goes on. Perhaps some of these aren't located in the US, but hey, they are thriving nonetheless.

And they will thrive even more with a national energy policy that isn't just focused on raising supply. I read again a transcription of Carter's April 1977 energy address, and it is every bit as valid today as it was then, but we ignored it then and we desperately want to ignore it today. The only thing he was wrong about was the timing...and you know how we like to focus on that one error.

We need to focus on demand. And a floor does just that.