The Silver Lining in High Price of Gas

Winston-Salem Journal – Three-dollar-a-gallon gas is a good thing. Thanks to a moderate shock this year, we may be able to avoid a crippling blow in 10 years’ time. That crisis, sometimes called “Peak Oil,” will occur when oil supplies begin to fall while the appetites of economies such as China and India keep growing. Experts suggest that sometime after 2010, a massive collision will occur between falling supply and rising demand, and the result will be a sudden, radical explosion in the price of gas. If we aren’t prepared with alternatives when it comes, that crisis could destroy the world economy.

But we aren’t there yet. Happily, there’s still plenty of oil. In normal times, we’d be coasting along paying a $1.50 a gallon and saying, as usual, “I’ll think about that tomorrow,” – like Miss Scarlett. And there’d be no money in alternative energy.
Winston-Salem Journal