the silver lining to black gold

The BBC recently reported that oil will be hitting $90 a barrel. While we could try and dismiss this as yet more fear tactics from a media hellbent on feeding paranoia rather than a thirst for knowledge, the fact remains that we as a nation have done very little to break our dependence on oil. I was in my car the other day, noticing how many 10 mile per gallon SUVs and trucks there were around me and I was thinking to myself, "gee, the futuristic movies of the last few decades really got it wrong."

How many movies from the 70's and 80's (and even the 90's) portrayed a future filled with electric cars, most of which were tiny and sleek? Instead, we've got this rehashed muscle approach to the automobile industry. As if Hummers and Expeditions weren't enough, now we've got modern day muscle cars, too. The new Mustangs and Hemi-powered Chargers spring to mind. I'm a big fan of 60's era American muscle cars, but you would think that we would have figured out how to provide a good 400hp engine that gets 60 miles to the gallon by now. What remains to be seen is if the muscle car approach that got us into so much trouble in the 70's with the big gas scare could happen again.

I guess if there is any true "silver lining" with the gas crisis and the skyrocketing costs involved, it would be for those who were clever enough to invest in oil and gas. After all, the country is not making great strides to come up with viable alternatives so the future for oil profiteers seems pretty bright. In fact, oil and gas investment may be one of the few markets available that is still backed (and practically ensured) by big oil dollars in capital hill.