Is there a bright side to higher gas prices?

[Speck Tater]

If oil goes high enough it may no longer be economically viable to build a bicycle in China, put it on a ship and burn diesel to ship it halfway around the world, then put it on a truck and burn diesel to truck it halfway across the country to your local Walmart.

Walmart could go bust. Local and regional manufacturing could start to grow again. Bicycles could be produced locally, creating jobs right here at home.

[BlueEyedSon]

1. Emission of greenhouse gasses MAY decrease.

Oops, forgot about coal....

[lenidog]

4. We will probably start going back to more fuel efficient cars

and see the SUVs disappear. Which will be just in the nick of time since Jeep is set to launch a new vehicle with two six cylinder engines in it. I wonder how many gallons to the mile that car will get.

[tridim]

15. And the Oil CEO's, the BFEE and Saudis laugh all the way to the bank

I'd have no problem with $3.00 gas if a dollar of that went towards REAL alternative/renewable energy research.

[xray s]

2. I wish that were true

But the fact is the corporations make huge margins on the backs of cheap third world labor, so they can absorb a big increase in energy prices and still afford to ship their products around the world.

[Tux]

6. CEOs

Aren't American, they're Republician. They don't care for our economy only thier bank accounts. What we might see is an increase in gas, increase in prices for products, decrease in wages, and more jobs going overseas.

[xray s]

8. The only criteria; is it profitable

They don't give a fart in a hurricaine about America. It's profits uber alles.

[Deja Q]

3. More products might be made in America and sold abroad,

reducing the 15+ year old trade deficit that no president has bothered to fix. (they all bashed Clinton for doing zilch here, why do they support Reagan and a pair of Bushes for also doing zilch?)

[cheezus]

5. americans buy and ride said bicycles...

...get unfat and lower the burden on the health care system.

[CAcyclist]

7. There's lots of small bicycle makers

handmaking some fine bikes here in the US.

[Tux]

11. But who buys them?

Most people prefer Wal-Mart over anything. It's unAmerican to buy American.

[rzemanfl]

9. Sure, if you have the time to hang around the gas station and

watch the Hummers and Escalades filling up.

[rzemanfl]

10. Sure, if you have the time to hang around the gas station and

watch the Hummers and Escalades fill up.

First time I stuttered on DU.

[The Flaming Red Head]

12. Less money for food. Poverty diet. (nt)

[sellitman]

13. Less people buying SUV's would make this Lib smile.

:applause:

[amazona]

14. no bright side

If oil prices get and stay high, the Appalachians will be torn apart for the coal they contain, and American life expectancy will drop by 20 years on the east coast. I'm given to understand by Westerners that our western frontier will similarly be torn apart for oil shale.

It will be the end of what our nation stands for -- the end of frontier, the end of wilderness.

There are other ways to fight WalMart than such a pyrrhic victory.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[buddysmellgood]

17. Bull. You're saying we can't live with expensive oil. There are many other

ways to make energy. The transition will be painful because we don't have leaders to guide us to those sources over time. Instead it will happen more quickly and with more pain, but we will do it and it will create jobs and communities in the process. I say, bring it on.

[NickB79]

16. Well, if you don't like to eat, then yes, it could have an upside

Consider how much fossil fuel is used to grow the food we eat, all the fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, irrigation, etc, to get bumper crops. Then consider all the diesel fuel tractors, combines, and semi-trucks burn to transport that food to factories. THEN consider all the fuel it takes to move that processed food from the factories to the grocery stores.

We here in the US probably won't suffer for lack of food so much as the rest of the world. China and India are only able to support 1 billion people each because of the Green Revolution of the 1960's that emphasized higher crop yields through massive applications of fertilizers and pesticides. Without the extra productivity fertilizers and irrigation give us, the planet could only support 2-3 billion humans. If we lose enough oil production, billions will starve to death.

[buddysmellgood]

19. It's not going to go away like someone shutting off a spigot. Yes it

will be more expensive, but there are also other ways to make the products you mention. The problem is that we have no leaders willing to make the transition before it is forced on us by lack of supply.

[NickB79]

21. We can't produce on the massive scale we need

No, food supply won't just vanish overnight, but it will become more and more expensive to buy. At the same time, our economy will be going down the drain as more and more businesses are forced to scale back or shut down, and workers will have less money to buy with. Eventually another Great Depression will set in, with people too poor to buy basic necessities.

In places like Asia, there are no substitutes for the fertilizers we've become dependent on. Even with the extremely efficient methods many Asian farmers use, it is still not enough to feed their populations without fertilizers.

There are no other ways we can make fertilizers and fuel on the scale we need cheaply enough from other sources. Blind faith in a technological savior will get us nowhere.

[buddysmellgood]

22. Nor will dooms day scenarios. It's not blind faith. I've seen many

technologies and efficiencies that will provide the energy we need. What we lack is the leadership to transition to them so that oil can be used for more critical needs.

[tavalon]

18. Two words - Public Transportation

Elaboration - we have lousy public transportation in this country ( a few notable exceptions, but only a few). If people and their governing bodies feel the pinch enough, they might pour some money into this very important thing. And people may start using public transportation more.

[ripple]

20. The sale of SUV's has already declined