Cost of expensive oil
We asked: Is pricey oil a good thing?
Does it just get better for the environment with oil above $120 a barrel and heading higher? We turned to the environmental campaigners and asked each to comment.
Double-edged sword
Consumers and manufacturers turn to more fuel-efficient products, with hybrid-electric cars selling like hotcakes and people opting to commute and travel by public transportation. Private and public investment in better technology and cleaner fuel substitutes is soaring, with some companies developing plug-in hybrid vehicle technology which would slash oil use. Others are investigating the commercial potential of clean, next-generation biofuels (such as cellulosic ethanol and algae-derived fuel). Such developments add up to progress toward a world in which oil isn’t a strategic commodity, with pollution levels plummeting since we don’t burn as much of the stuff.
However, there can be negative consequences for our environment. Without global warming pollution limits in place, prices spur interest in substitutes which threaten our environment. Tar sands deposits are being strip-mined for fuel in Canada, with escalating harms to the boreal forest, the Athabasca River and migratory bird species. Next up could be liquid coal, if enough public subsidies can be doled out to build exceedingly costly production facilities. Fuel from coal spews twice the global warming pollution as fuel from oil. Fortunately, we can solve both oil dependence and global warming with policy that caps pollution. -- Deron Lovaas is the Vehicles Campaign Director for NRDC in Washington, D.C.
Tension between consumers and the conservation agenda
There have been people who were considered pretty far out five years or so ago, saying that what we need is $3-a-gallon gas to spur environmental improvements. Few people wanted to say that explicity because there's a tension on this issue between something that hits consumers directly and something that's good for the environment. We see that tension on the political campaign trail today where John McCain and Hillary Clinton both came up with frankly ridiculous ideas regarding the gas tax holiday... Interestingly enough, the car companies in Canada have gone to the government and said 'raise gas prices' as a device for dealing with things like global warming.
Another potential downside is that we drop our vigilance in terms of understanding that we do need to have enforceable federal programs when it comes to things like fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions because we have learned the hard way that you can't leave it up to the marketplace alone. -- Frank O'Donnell is the executive director of Clean Air Watch in Washington DC
Truer costs of fossil fuels revealed
On balance it's a good thing, but having said that, high oil prices disproportionally impact low income and working class people.
I think what we're seeing is a real lack of both the Administration and the Congress to put together some sort of comprehensive package to deal with spiraling oil costs. What we have been advocating at Greenpeace is that a comprehensive approach to solving global warming will be helpful in that area because it's going to reduce our dependence on energy sources that come from particularly volatile places in the world, which has a big impact on prices.
I think we're already beginning to see changes in the way American consumers are behaving, the types of vehicles they're purchasing. We would suggest that's a healthy thing that is good for the planet. It is a truer reflection of the costs of fossil fuels. -- Chris Miller is the USA Global Warming Campaigner for Greenpeace
