American Gas price nonsense is a cultural trauma from the energy problems caused by OPEC sanctions in the 70s.
Basically the BS of American exceptionalism ran up against the reality of us importing 80% of our energy needs from Autocratic middle eastern countries. We got cut off from that and it gave us a national crisis. We had two options going forward:
Either we focus on independent energy solutions, like nuclear and renewables. It would take more effort but would clearly be a smart and forward thinking investment, making us into an energy independent nation that could afford to make hard choices in geopolitics because of that independence, and could be a center for energy tech moving forward. It would probably be difficult for a decade but we basically would have avoided the worst of climate change, and likely be on a stable climate path already.
Or we could just turn ourselves into vassals of the oil states, throwing away any morals to the quick and cheap solution that would give us a rich 80s and immediately put us on a path to more future problems and burning cash in the desert trying to keep them pumping that black gold. We would sacrifice our future for slightly more success right here and now, and damn the consequences 50 years down the road, we will all be dead by then anyway.
Guess which option we picked? What's funny is that we eventually got the energy independence anyway, thanks to fracking and conservation, but we already wasted trillions in the sandbox, but we STILL need to dedicate enormous national effort keeping the sandbox just stable enough to pump oil because even though we export a significant quantity of our oil, if the price goes up a few cents that apparently ruins the economics of owning a Bro-Dozer so much that people who haven't gotten a raise in 50 years get really upset that """the economy""" is doing poorly.
Nevermind that the price of gas seems to suspiciously go up in November, regardless of the actual production figures, but only when there is a democrat in the white house.
Basically the BS of American exceptionalism ran up against the reality of us importing 80% of our energy needs from Autocratic middle eastern countries. We got cut off from that and it gave us a national crisis. We had two options going forward:
Either we focus on independent energy solutions, like nuclear and renewables. It would take more effort but would clearly be a smart and forward thinking investment, making us into an energy independent nation that could afford to make hard choices in geopolitics because of that independence, and could be a center for energy tech moving forward. It would probably be difficult for a decade but we basically would have avoided the worst of climate change, and likely be on a stable climate path already.
Or we could just turn ourselves into vassals of the oil states, throwing away any morals to the quick and cheap solution that would give us a rich 80s and immediately put us on a path to more future problems and burning cash in the desert trying to keep them pumping that black gold. We would sacrifice our future for slightly more success right here and now, and damn the consequences 50 years down the road, we will all be dead by then anyway.
Guess which option we picked? What's funny is that we eventually got the energy independence anyway, thanks to fracking and conservation, but we already wasted trillions in the sandbox, but we STILL need to dedicate enormous national effort keeping the sandbox just stable enough to pump oil because even though we export a significant quantity of our oil, if the price goes up a few cents that apparently ruins the economics of owning a Bro-Dozer so much that people who haven't gotten a raise in 50 years get really upset that """the economy""" is doing poorly.
Nevermind that the price of gas seems to suspiciously go up in November, regardless of the actual production figures, but only when there is a democrat in the white house.