The price of gas at the pump has dropped dramatically, and that has many folks jumping for joy. Sorry to be a party pooper, but I’m not one of them.
The recent tapping of America’s unconventional oil reserves, mostly found in shale deposits, has had the short-term effect of reducing gasoline prices in most of the country from well more than $3 per gallon to just more than $2.
Whoopee! We’ll have more cash with which to buy more stuff, thus creating more jobs, which will create even more cash and stuff. We can drive to the mall, go on a spending spree and “grow the economy.” What’s not to like?
Plenty, if you think about the not-too-distant future of both the economy and the environment.
First, we need to understand that our current oil glut is symptomatic of the longer “peak oil” trend were experiencing. Misinterpreted by some to mean that we would “run out” of oil in the early 21st century, “peak oil” actually means that we’re rapidly running out of oil from conventional sources – big reservoirs that are easy to tap.
While it might appear that shale deposits contain ample petroleum reserves to secure our future, much of that oil is hard to get at, many of the wells peter out quickly, and profitable yields will become scarcer. Meanwhile, the oil companies are busily building or connecting to seaports to sell America’s oil on the international market, hastening the depletion of reserves. In short, we can expect the oil glut to be temporary.
The environmental concerns ultimately are more important, since we can’t eat oil or the profits it generates. Fracking creates a series of local disasters, overusing and permanently polluting ground- and surface-water while destabilizing soil strata.
Globally, if cheap oil translates into more American driving and consumption – and thus more foreign manufacturing – our carbon pollution output will increase just at the time we are crossing the threshold into irreversible climate change and catastrophic ocean acidification. We already are seeing the results and feeling the pain of pushing carbon pollution over the limit most climatologists and oceanographers deem safe. Developments that threaten to further endanger us are highly risky.
What can you do about it?
Put simply, drive and spend less, not more. Ask yourself, “Does a volatile petroleum market tell me to spend my ‘oil-glut bonus,’ perhaps by going further into debt, or to save money? Do I really want to contribute to climate chaos and long-term food insecurity with unnecessary discretionary spending?”
Finally, while gas prices are at a low ebb, taxing carbon pollution would have a minimal impact on the economy. Consider supporting a progressive, revenue-neutral carbon tax to fund a clean energy future at our ecological house.
Philip S. Wenz, who grew up in Durango and Boulder, now lives in Corvallis, Oregon, where he teaches and writes about environmental issues. www.your-ecological-house.com.
