I Jumped the Gun on 5 Dollar a Gallon Gas in Idaho

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This has happened to me before.  I look at some trends and make a prediction, then the next day there are new trends.  This week I wrote it’s not out of the question that we could be paying five dollars a gallon for gasoline by summer. I had seen a story predicting that oil would soon be selling for well over 100 dollars a barrel.  Coupled with higher demand and the math is easy.  Then news broke about another big bank in trouble, this one in Switzerland.  Oil tumbled.

As I write this, I saw a story a few hours ago in the Wall Street Journal about the volatility when it comes to the price of natural gas.  An analyst said to expect it to continue for months, if not years to come.  Demand is up because coal-fired energy plants are going offline.  In some states, the cost of electricity has soared by more than 75 percent in a little more than a decade.  Natural gas could be used as a replacement, but now more of the supply is being diverted overseas.  As a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

Again, this screams a need for small modular nuclear reactors.  Yet, I still know even some conservatives who fear nuclear.  “What about Fukushima?” they’ll reply.

First, nobody died as a result of that accident, and the technologies are nothing alike.

Earlier this week, somebody criticized me for my supposed support of mining for rare earth minerals.  Look, energy is prosperity.  The lack of energy is poverty.  I like mountains, trees, and streams too.  But I’m not willing to pick winners and losers when it comes to who starves and who freezes to death.