Winter, coast of California
In June, two worrisome milestones were reached in America, each a harbinger of a perilous journey ahead.
The first occurred on June 9th, when the nationwide average price of a gallon of gasoline crossed the $4 threshold for the first time. This was big news partly because of its obvious economic impact on the nation, but also because it wasn’t supposed to happen, at least not according to most experts. As late as this spring, the U.S. Energy Department projected the cost of gas to rise to no more than $3.85 a gallon, before receding. Instead, it zoomed past all worst-case scenarios.
And our summer of discontent officially commenced.
We passed the second milestone with barely a ripple in the media. A new study determined that in 2007 China surpassed the United States as the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide, a principle greenhouse gas. This was big news too, though for different reasons. Unlike the price of gasoline, however, this development was predicted to happen, just not this quickly.
The two milestones are linked, of course. China’s insatiable thirst for energy to power its overheated economy is causing it to consume vast amounts of coal and oil - the former contributing to global warming and the latter influencing the price of gas at our pumps. Unfortunately, given China’s apparent ambition to keep
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