Chapter 4 - Headwinds (30-31)

Chapter 4 - Headwaters _______________________________________________ 30

growing its economy at a breakneck pace, the trend lines for both are upward.

As dire as these developments are for people and the planet, it is the speed at which both milestones were reached that has many experts (and political leaders) bewildered. And judging from their reactions, which have ranged from confusion to anger, no one knows what will happen next.

I don’t either, but I can say this: taken together these milestones represent a significant step forward into the Age of Consequences.

Let’s start with the effect of $4 gas. On June 10th, we instantly had a "gas crisis" on our hands, at least according to the major media outlets and our national political leadership. It’s been front page news every day since (and one of the reasons why the China report went largely unnoticed). The fact that this development has been brewing for years - there was a similar "crisis" back in April, 2006, when gas crept close to $3 a gallon before eventually falling back (that October I paid $1.98 at a gas station in Memphis, Tennessee) - mattered not a whit to pundits. Shock and outrage dominated the news.

Take "Black Friday" - June 6th - when oil jumped 8% to nearly $140-a-barrel, for instance. Combined with the previous day’s run-up, oil moved $16 higher in less than 24 hours - an unprecedented jump - and suddenly everyone began frantically searching for solutions to the "crisis."

In the media, the majority of the stories involved one of two angles: hand-wringing or finger-pointing.

On the hand-wringing front, here are a few of the many

A Chronicle of the Age of Consequences __________________________________ 31

troubles that made headlines in the past four weeks:

Public schools are struggling to cope with rising food and fuel costs, which threaten to bust already tight budgets next fall.
Asphalt, which contains a lot of petroleum, has become so expensive that cities across the nation don’t know whether they can afford to fill potholes.
Sales of SUVs dropped 31% over a twelve-month period, which is a primary reason why the price of General Motors stock sank to a 30-year low in June.
Out-of-gas calls to AAA and towing companies are up dramatically.
Choices for air travel are dwindling, especially as smaller airlines feel the pinch. United Airlines said it will cut domestic capacity by nearly 20% in 2009.
A report prepared for the airline industry said that if oil prices remain high, every major airline could be in bankruptcy by the end of next year.
By the end of June, the Dow had swooned nearly 20% from its 2006 all-time high.
Unemployment posted its biggest one-month jump in May since 1986.
Corn climbed to nearly $8 a bushel, another record, after the Midwest was struck by the worst flooding since 1993.
People are praying at the pump. In Washington, D.C., a group gathered to pray to God for delivery from high gas prices (he isn’t listening apparently - gas has risen 40 cents a gallon since they began praying back in April).
Drivers around the world are being pummeled. In Turkey