Awl

In Texas, there's a word for that black gooey stuff that comes up out of the ground and powers our whole civilization. They call it: "Awl."

Right now, the price of gas is unbelievably high. Bush is naturally worried about this, since people for some reason tend to punish politicians for high gas prices. Of course, in this case, high gas prices have little to do with Bush and a lot to do with Chinese demand and with speculators' reaction to Iranian bloviation. By using oil that was meant for the strategic reserve, Bush might save a few Republicans' political hides, but he won't bring down gas prices in the medium or long term.

But stop and think for a moment. Are high oil prices a bad thing? Not necessarily. First of all, when oil prices go high and stay high, it provides an incentive for people to conserve more oil. That means trading in SUVs for compact cars. The government will (hopefully) respond with stricter and stricter fuel mileage requirements, and automakers will comply. This means lower carbon emissions to fuel global warming, and it means we'll be better protected from future oil price shocks.

More importantly, when oil stays expensive for a long time, it provides an incentive for people to start developing better energy alternatives. Back in the late 70s and early 80s, when the last big oil price crunch came, a lot of people started looking into nuclear, wind, and hydroelectric energy. But that price crunch was artificial - it was caused by OPEC price manipulation. When OPEC caved and the oil price fell, alternative energy took a big hit; eventually oil was down to $20 a barrel, and people forgot all about those cute little windmills.

But this price shock is natural - China and India and other developing economies aren't going away. So alternative energy is starting to look a whole lot more attractive. Check out this article in Popular Mechanics, which takes a comparative look at the various alternatives for car power (note the pretty chart).

Once we switch to alternative fuels, investment will drive down the cost of the technology over time, so there'll be no going back to the gas-guzzling days. Depending on what alternative we switch to, it might become easier to limit carbon emissions. And the quicker we start investing in alternatives, the more we can build a world-class alternative energy industry, which will create jobs and raise our standard of living.

Isn't this what we want?

Go awl prices go!


BONUS READING GUIDE

1. The Democrats are probably not going to win control of Congress this year. It might happen; there's just a very slim chance. Seismic political shifts don't happen overnight, even with a ruling party that's messed things up as bad as the Republicans have for the past five years. Democrats need to be working to convince America - the "red states" as well as the "blue" - that the Democratic Party is the way to go, even if the Republicans get their act together. Long-term means not just relying on dissatisfaction with the other guys, and not just playing for the swing states in the hopes of eking out a victory. So maybe there will be a silver lining when the 06 Democratic Revolution doesn't quite reach escape velocity.

2. A Noahpinion contributor pointed me to this story about groups that help poor people save and invest their money. This is exactly the kind of thing the liberal movement needs. We need to stress responsible behavior. Saving and investment are two things our country sorely lacks right now, and getting poor people to save more could be the key not just to alleviating poverty, but to changing America's current culture of "burning the furniture." Once people start saving and investing their own money, they might want to vote for a government that does the same. So let's be the "party of investment" - as Clinton might say, don't stop thinking about tomorrow.
(Of course, note that promoting investment might involve cutting the capital gains tax...)