>On Wed, Jan 11, 2006 at 11:36:37AM -0500, Doug Henwood wrote:
>
>> Funny you should pick two countries where gas costs $5/gal.
>
>And two countries whose geography and population densities support
>mass transit already.
But our population density is part of the problem, a product of excessively cheap energy. The earth cannot survive American spatial form.
> > This "screwing the poor" business sounds like something an oil
>> lobbyist would say. The American masses consume a lot of energy, and
>> if we're going to use less of it (assuming no techno breakthrough is
>> imminent), then the poor and working class will have to use less
>> energy. The "screwing" part could be addressed through income tax
>> rebates, like I said.
>
>But what I pointed out is that the price of oil is directly related to
>manufacturing expense, and cost increases there are not going to be
>reclaimed in executive salaries - they are going to come from
>elimination of defined-benefit plans and layoffs.
The OECD has just put out an enviro report card on the US. It criticizes our energy inefficiency as harming our mfg competitiveness. Cheap resources make us lazy.
Doug