With Gas Pump Crunch, Is Oil Shale to the Rescue?
Read 16 comments on this post at Huffington Post Supply and demand: the current oil crunch provides a refresher course on these market drivers. As rising demand for petroleum has begun to outstrip supply, prices have skyrocketed. The demand-side approach to addressing the problem involves more fuel-efficient cars, driving less (and less aggressively), and enhancing mass transit — in other words, to paraphrase President Bush, kicking our oil “addiction.” Recent trends suggest that Americans are moving in that direction. Then there’s the supply-side approach, also being courted, which may seem attractive on the surface, but the environmental costs would be huge. Because prices rise with demand, bigger oil supplies boost profits and so oil companies want to increase the flow to the pumps. That of course requires getting more oil out of the ground — and preferably from American reserves instead of foreign ones.
