Oil Prices

The Financial Times analyzes the effects of the falling price of oil on energy markets and concludes that the short term economic gain for oil consumers will come back to bite them as investments in alternative fuels will cease as will conservation.

In this Mercury News Op-Ed, San Jose State University Professor Larry Gerston proposes this bold tax for mass transit and alternative energy programs. It yields $175 billion annually and creates green jobs, enabling us to determine our destiny.

Energy expert Severin Borenstein suggests a novel strategy to ensure California drivers don't lose their gas-saving habits and vehicle preferences learned when gas cost $4.50/gallon - a 'variable gas surcharge' to stabilize gas prices at $3/gallon.

The Erie Canal has been long forgotten as a passage for transportation, but the affordability of shipping goods by canal barge is making it a more attarctive option than doing so by trucking.

Plunging oil prices are hitting three oil-producing countries the hardest: Venezuela, Iran, and Russia. This article looks at each of them and evaluates how they will fare if oil prices do not rise, including their relationships to the U.S.

The new 'oil shock' is one of plummeting oil prices and its effect on alternative technologies and energy. Combined with the credit crisis, the fallout in some green technologies is shown by difficulties in attracting capital and customers.

As oil prices plunge to well below $100/barrel, will Americans reverse all their fuel-efficient behavior learned from $145 oil seen in July? It appears that the economic crisis may continue where the energy crisis left off.

Using the term 'oil supply crunch' as opposed to 'peak oil', this British report indicates that the oil crisis will hit by 2013, with prices jumping to $200/barrel. It states that the problem is not insufficient oil but obstacles to its extraction.

In this column, Richard Florida argues the decline in the popularity of suburbs is not just a product of rising oil prices, but a result of a new "spatial fix" that is reorganizing how and where people live their lives.

A new report for a Canadian bank examining the economic impact of rising oil prices predicts that millions of Americans will be forced to give up driving as gas reaches $7.00 a gallon.

Chrysler's "Let's Refuel America" campaign promises to subsidize your gas as if you were paying $2.99 a gallon if you buy one of their large vehicles. Cartoonist Ruben Bolling spoofs the thinking behind the program in this cartoon.

Transit use is surging, but operators are facing the same fuel crunch as consumers and public monies for new investments aren't up to addressing the new demand.

Protests both peaceful and violent are breaking out across Europe and Asia as people's livelihoods begin to suffer from soaring fuel costs, and some stores are running out of food as truck drivers go on strike.

Gas prices have just surpassed the $4 mark, but the impact is far from uniform throughout the nation- poor, rural counties, particularly in the south and west, suffer disproportionately.

NPR reports on 'hypermilers', drivers who practice active gas-saving techniques like braking lightly and combining trips. One hypermiler says he isn't doing it to be green: 'The environment I'm concerned with is my wallet.'

Even as SUV sales have dropped 33% this year, some drivers hang on to their gas-guzzlers. "You've got to have that room when you're moving around," says a Georgia man. The cost of switching is another major factor for families.

The cartoon strip 'This Modern World' looks at how gas prices have influenced motorists' selection of motor vehicles in the United States - from the 1970's to 'five minutes from now'.

With fill-ups costing close to $70,000 for a transatlantic flight, airlines are facing a grim future.

With gas prices as they are, does it make sense to ditch your SUV and buy a hybrid? Count on the Wall St. Journal to break it down a discussion of your return on investment.

Both farmers and the rural poor are hurting because gas prices are not only higher in Canada's rural areas, but the distances required to obtain food and other necessities are so great.