Gee, Ya' Think?

While not specifically questioning green technology, today's post is about oil prices and the crystal clear example of economic efficiency/supply and demand.

The AP, via Yahoo!, posted a story titled "Oil prices tumble again on US surprise supply jump." As you may or may not know, the price of a barrel of oil has fallen approximately $10 in the last two days. As you also may or may not know, oil is sold on the world market in US dollars. While the discussion of using oil as a hedge against a weakening dollar and inflation is legitimate, the story highlights the real cause, people just aren't consuming!

From the article:

"The Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude oil supplies rose by 3 million barrels, or 1 percent, last week. That is the opposite of the 3 million barrel draw analysts surveyed by energy research firm Platts expected. Gasoline supplies also leapt unexpectedly."

So, there you have it. People and businesses are just consuming less. Whether it is gas at $4.08 a gallon, or crude at $146, people and businesses have reached the point where they will no longer bear the price, and thus supply is increasing. Provided that consumption remains flat or continues to decrease (globally), prices will continue to fall.

And guess what, the US government and states still collect about $.26 a gallon. However, they are concerned that reduced consumption will cut into their revenue stream.

Build Wind, Drop Nuclear? Germany Loses its Mind!

**See the updated articles Germany Loses its Mind Follow Up and A Nuclear Renaissance in Germany?.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it! That is a piece of conventional wisdom I agree with. However, Germany is more focused on "green" love than common sense.

As reported in an article on Yahoo!, "Germany wants to build 30 wind farms," Germany is going to close 17 nuclear plants and build wind farms instead. Brilliant! Talk about disturbing the environment with 30 new wind farms, ask Teddy Kennedy and Walter Cronkite how they feel about wind farms in Nantucket (story here).

Unfortunately, Angela Merkel has been cowed by the Greens. From the article,

"The government has agreed to honour a decision to close the country's 17 nuclear power plants by 2020 but remains divided over the issue.

Merkel insists that a nuclear phase-out would hinder efforts to slash Germany's dependency on greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels.

But Tiefensee, a member of Merkel's Social Democrat coalition partners, said that investing in windfarms was better than keeping the nuclear plants running.

"We believe in renewable energy and not in nuclear energy.""

Whether or not Tiefensee and the other socialists in Germany "believe" in renewable energy, one can't change the fact that nuclear is more efficient both in cost and energy output. Empirical data is always better than beliefs when it comes to money.