Crude Awakening

It’s the stuff of American romance: summer, a big car, a tankful of gas and the endless highway.

But that fabled love is now a troubled relationship.

We can still drive where we want, if the traffic isn’t too bad. And we can still drive something nice, if our credit holds out. But Americans can no longer control the cost of the gasoline that enlivened the romance.

To be sure, America long ago lost its energy independence and has at times lost control of prices, as it did when OPEC flexed its muscle in the 1970s.

But new forces in world energy markets, unrestrained consumption epitomized by the boom in sport utility vehicles and the depletion of oil have subjected the United States to buffeting by forces outside its control.
San Diego Union-Tribune