Chosen by Asker

I wouldn't call it a "good" thing, it sucks that lots of people have to suffer for it; but that's the cost of weaning. The necessity for alternative options is hopefully the silver lining. Nobody's going to change unless they have a fire up their butt to drive them to do it. Otherwise, we'd at least have had a real effort a decade ago.

by Rigo

4 months ago

Asker's Rating: 

I take it you don't work for a living?

by LabRat- 4 months ago

Actaully i think it might go down sooner or later because if nobodys going to buy gas and what not . then they would have to lower it!!

by BRITTÄNY- 4 months ago

High oil prices are not a good thing.

by chicagopressrelease.com- 4 months ago

The prices soaring out of control are affecting everything we touch and do. Inflation is going to go through the roof even more so than it already has. People are losing jobs everyday. Companies, especially small ones are closing every day. People are losing their homes because they can't make the mortgage payments because they live too far from work and the cost to commute has gone out of control. People are having to decide if they will pay their bills or feed their kids. I saw a fatal accident yesterday that was caused by a car running out of gas. The lady driving couldn't afford to put any more gas in it and it cost her her life as well as the lives of 2 other people. So far, I don't see an upside. I agree that we need alternative energy. But, I think it is a travesty that it took a situation like this to get people interested in actually doing something about it. Peoples lives are being destroyed in the aftermath of this problem. So, NO I do not believe this is a good thing.

by thompsonpw- 4 months ago

Wow this question is very deep and you'll get so many different answers. I agree with you that we need to get off of oil since the carbon outputs are destroying the planet's ecosystems, but at the same time a high cost of energy impedes our standard of living.To be honest, I think that we have two options: 1) Let free markets decide the price of oil and which alternatives are best. In less than 25 years oil will become so scarce and expensive and technological innovations with solar cells will be so great that solar energy will be more economical and the discussions will be over. 2) Factor in the external costs (ie. smog, carbon, resource depletion, etc.) of consuming oil right into its cost to the consumer. This will drive the price up to it's actual economic cost and will cause other forms of energy to be more economical. After taking several economic courses in university, I'm a huge proponent of factoring in external costs in every consumable item in society. This would include tax breaks for things that are healthy, like bicycles or hybrids. In short, when things rise in price it's not good for anybody because we get to consume less. But, we do need to get off oil to save our planet so it's rising price may be good in the long run.

by mangledmatt s- 4 months ago

Every cloud has a silver lining and this is one relating to this issue. The other aspect is our consumption in general. We need to stop living beyond our means. But, on the other hand, I don't think that I want to continue to compensate the speculators and the oil companies who are getting rich from the pain suffered by some and the distress that it's putting on the world economy. We're seeing rampant inflation in many related markets as a result and many are actually starving because of it.

by Scott K- 4 months ago

I was thinking about this, too. I keep my driving to a minimum, and have been using a bike to get around a lot more, lately. If a friend calls me up and tells me to come over, I say I'll be over in half an hour rather than 10 minutes, and I'm saving money and getting more exercise because of it. I really think we underestimate human energy. Bikes are very efficient vehicles. We used to use horses to draw carriages; we could use groups of 4-6 bikes for similar purposes, as hauling vehicles.

by kirkvonnegut- 4 months ago

Well, I think it's just the government's way of screwing us more than we already are. Consider the president has investments IN oil...hmmmm......

by *~Christen~*- 4 months ago