The White House openly states there is no “quick fix” for the price of oil however starting now can help in the future. More politicians are openly expressing their support for allowing offshore drilling and exploration.
Concerns are raised as the Bureau of Land Management plans to evaluate environmental, social, and economic impacts associated with solar energy development.
Robert Bryce, the managing editor of Energy Tribune is one of my favorite energy thinkers. He is a throwback journalist with an inquiring mind who asks hard questions and really thinks through the answers. He has recently written a book titled Gusher of Lies.
I have not yet had a chance to read the book, but I recently listened to a Tavis Smiley show interview with Robert where he talked a little about one of the topics discussed in the book - the use of natural gas as a vehicle fuel.
This topic caught my interest as my energy obsessed brain began weaving several threads into a new pattern. One thread is the growing disconnect between the cost per unit energy of natural gas compared to diesel fuel in the United States. Another thread is a story that has been playing on my drive time radio station about the challenges that local school districts are facing as they prepare their student transportation budgets in the face of rapid increases in the cost of diesel fuel. The final thread is my continuing belief that new nuclear power plants have a role to play in alleviating our current energy crisis.
On June 22, 2008, Gordon Brown, the UK Prime Minister, spoke to a crowd that included the representatives of 27 oil producing countries. His primary message was that the current price of oil was not sustainable since it was high enough to cause economic hardships and a move to alternative energy sources. He was careful to point out that the alternatives to oil included nuclear power and that his country was making preparations to enable a large scale nuclear development program.
He also mentioned that at least 15 of his fellow European Union states were considering new nuclear power developments.
“Our commitment to the biggest expansion of nuclear power in Europe is now clear and definitive,” Brown said in his speech. “Fifteen of 27 European countries are now engaged in nuclear power.”
Oil ministers have a longer and deeper memory of energy related history than most casual observers; it is in their professional interest. During the 1970s, a number of nations, including France, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea made a strategic decision to replace oil burning power plants with nuclear fission reactors.
Here is a line of thinking that I have heard several times recently - oil prices have increased so rapidly recently that the market has become overheated and will pop like a bubble. Comparisons to Dutch tulips, Dot Com stocks, and housing prices abound on TV, on the radio, on the web, and around water coolers. 
There is one major difference that causes me some grave concern - oil, unlike all of those other investment manias that exploded, is a commodity with visible, experienced hands on the controls.
The reason that I am concerned is that I believe that high oil prices are hurting nearly everyone and the pain will increase as time goes on. The hands on the controls, however, are feeling no pain.
The Organization of Oil Exporting Countries (OPEC) is an internationally recognized cartel established in September, 1960 that holds well publicized meetings on a regular basis to discuss production allocations that are specifically designed to maintain a market price that members agree best meets their internal and external needs. Many of the country representatives to that meeting have spent lengthy careers thinking deeply about oil prices and how best to manage them to benefit the people who send them to the meetings and pay their generous salaries.
So, what’s the bigger danger to the American public: Al-Qaeda, or compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs)?
If you follow the conservative punditry, online or off, it’s a tough call. Today’s (April 24) “Mallard Fillmore” comic strip is just the latest example of conservatives taking aim at these energy-saving bulbs, focusing primarily on the fact that CFLs contain mercury.
So, for Mallard Fillmore author Bruce Tinsley, Thomas Sowell, Rush Limbaugh (whose content is not publicly available) and the crowd at WorldNetDaily, let’s review the facts:
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