Click on the headline (link) for the full text.
Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage
Americans Cut Back Sharply on Spending
Michael Barbaro and Louis Uchitelle, New York Times
Strong evidence is emerging that consumer spending, a bulwark against recession over the last year even as energy prices surged and the housing market sputtered, has begun to slow sharply at every level of the American economy, from the working class to the wealthy.
The abrupt pullback raises the possibility that the country may be experiencing a rare decline in personal consumption, not just a slower rate of growth. Such a decline would be the first since 1991, and it would almost certainly push the entire economy into a recession in the middle of an election year.
There are mounting anecdotal signs that beginning in December Americans cut back significantly on personal consumption, which accounts for 70 percent of the economy.
(15 January 2008)
Contributer Jeffrey J. Brownwrites:
NYT to JHK: You wuz right
Of course, that is not what the headline says, but in effect, that is what the following excerpt says.
Saudis balk at Bush’s oil advice
James Gerstenzang, Los Angeles Times
President Bush and Saudi leaders tangled Tuesday over the price of oil, with the president reminding this wealthy desert kingdom that U.S. purchases could fall if the American economy slips and with a Saudi official refusing to commit his country to greater production to reduce costs at the pump.
Bush said the price of oil, driven up by growing demand in the United States but an even greater increase in China and India, had become “painful for our consumers.” He suggested that oil-producing nations open their spigots for their own good.
Producers should “realize that high energy prices affect the economies of consuming nations,” he said. If those economies weaken, he said, they “will eventually be buying fewer barrels of oil.”
Energy demand has “outstripped new supply,” Bush told reporters. “That’s why there’s high price.”
Saudi Oil Minister Ali Ibrahim Naimi said his country was sympathetic to such economic worries, but he refused to commit to increasing production.
(16 January 2008)
Why Is Oil So Pricey? It’s a Conspiracy!
R. James Woolsey, Washington Post
As oil prices hit a record $100 per barrel last week, I came into possession of a transcript of a recent conference call of a heretofore unknown organization called the Pedal to the Metal Coalition, or PedMet, which encourages Americans to stay addicted to oil. The participants seemed to be the head of the shadowy group’s K Street office, an official at OPEC headquarters, a representative from each OPEC member state and some hangers-on. Their greatest fear is that the United States will become oil-independent — and they’re concerned that the crunchy types’ campaign to feed cows grass rather than corn could mean not only a healthier America but one less dependent on OPEC.
I’m making the transcript available in the public interest.
* * *
K Street: Good to hear from you guys. There seemed to be a hang-up with getting us those year-end bonus checks. What’s up?
OPEC Headquarters: We’ve been deliberating, and we’ve decided that your armies of consultants, lobbyists and publicists will get their exorbitant fees . . . this time.
But we aren’t pleased with recent developments on the Hill. We pay you big bucks to push Americans away from using renewable fuels, but those damned measures to encourage the use of renewable fuels passed in the December 2007 energy bill. You charged us a fortune for your efforts to convince Congress that the world will be driven to starvation if it substitutes any more corn-based ethanol for gasoline. That failed, too. We need to know what’s gone wrong.
K Street: I thought you might call about that. That bill was just a temporary glitch; turns out those corn-state senators are really tough. We all know that corn-based ethanol is a reasonable fuel source with a few warts, but I think we did a great job this time around of making those few drawbacks look huge. And don’t worry. Before this extremely dangerous idea of making ethanol, butanol or whateverol out of cellulosic biomass and waste catches on, we’re going to redouble our efforts and . . .
(6 January 2008)
Satire from a former head of the CIA. Mr. Woolsey is prominent in the energy security movement, and has reached out to environmentalists. Before getting too enthusiastic about corn ethanol, we should all read Stuart Staniford’s latest analysis.
