Why trouble in the Middle East no longer means an oil price hike. Given how much oil used to dominate foreign affairs — and how its price served as one of the first major indicators of global conflict — it’s worth looking a little more at this dog that didn’t bark.

submitted by Chipit from spectator.us

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[–]mikipika 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Nice puff piece of journalism. I would have like to see a little more effort by the author to discuss the contribution of renewable energy to the decrease of dependence on foreign oil. Fracking? REALLY?

[–]SpeakEasy 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Not how economics works. Foreign oil is still the cheapest, and thus the best option for cars, farming implements, and whatever else. Nobody, especially massive corporations, would switch to renewable energy immediately, so they didn't. Supply would go down and demand would stay the same more or less, so price would go up. Renewable energy plays no part in this due to its insignificance and the difficulty of changing everything.

[–]mikipika 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

My electric bill has two accounts because one account is alloted to renewable energy. I have the option to go 100% renewable, the rate is a bit lower but there is a "fee" for this which makes it less feasible for my budget. Economics is a complex topic, I am not an economist. I do think that when she is talking about using oil prices as a metric for problems in the Middle East, she talks about fracking. I don't think fracking is the reason we are not as dependant as we were, I think it is related to renewables, which she ignores. Driving through Texas, Montana, California, I have seen windmills. Lots and lots of windmills. I see more and more solar panels on houses and fields, such as the one just outside of Las Vegas.

[–]Chipit[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Nope. Fracking changed everything. There is an ocean of oil in Texas and Oklahoma, and it practically refines itself. We don't need the middle east any more.