A letter from the European Union environment commissioner, Stavros Dimas, to Barack Obama calls for America to lead the way in an effort to stop global warming. He makes a point to call out that our economy is in peril but efforts to fix that should not derail the larger challenge we face.

He makes it clear that the rest of the world is depending on us and that no one else will feel compelled to fix their issues if America who contributes 22% of the carbon into the atmosphere does not get its act in order.

If someone’s basement floods and they lose their job on the same day it is certainly an unlucky day. But they would not wait until they found a new job before pumping the basement and fixing the leak. If they did, then not only would they be unemployed, but they would also have a house that is starting to fall apart. Common sense says that the longer you leave a problem unsolved the harder it becomes to find a solution. I am quite sure that even Joe the Plumber would agree with this. Climate change is similar. We know there is a problem and it would be short-sighted foolishness to not address it immediately.

Its a tough call for sure but one that we need to heed. We will either be remembered as the generation who stepped up and changed the world or the one who heard and ignored the greatest warning in the history of mankind.

You can read the entire letter here.

As you have all noticed by the price it costs to fill up your tank with Gas, Oil prices have taken a steep nose dive. And next year looks like it may even keep going that direction. The chief energy economist of Deutsche Bank, Adam Sieminski, said recently that the demand for oil in 2009 will drop more than any other time in the last quarter of a century, due to the weak economy. Sieminski forecasts oil traded in New York falling as low as $30 and averaging $47.50 for the whole year. He says higher forecasts haven’t adequately factored in how the global downturn will hurt oil demand. So…gas may be getting cheaper than cheap…But there is a flip side to that good feeling you are getting at the pump. With oil at 145$ this past summer alternative energy was entering what seemed to be its prime time debut, finanicers were willing to pour money into anything that held even the slightest promise of sustainable energy, even the Venture capital funds known for their technology plays in the past 20 years dumped more money towards green technology than information technology. But with prices at 37$, now what? The question on everyone’s mind is what will that mean for sustainable technologies?

And here is the million dollar question for you today. Given the increase in funding for the right kind of innovation when pricing is high how much are you willing to pay for a gallon of gas?

Levi Benkert

It comes as no surprise to see that GM has decided to halt plans on the one project in their books that had promise. The Chevy Volt. Really? I mean Really? You have seen your company get this close to failing and everyone and their mother knows that its because you ignored the writing on the wall about SUV’s and energy costs. Oh but wait you must have seen that this month you were starting to sell more SUV’s again because gas went down….Oh! I see now we are going to have cheap gas forever and won’t need to drive electric cars anymore. I am so glad to know that the future is so clear to you.

Does anyone else see right through the Chevron adds all over town? I mean really you one of the largest oil companies in the world want us to believe that you have all of a sudden seen the light and want to encourage us to buy less of your product? Hmm. Not buying it guys.

I have been waiting to write this just because I don’t really know enough to do the topic justice. The headline I read in the NYT this morning did it for me though.

“The economy shrank at an annual rate of 0.3 percent in the third quarter, as personal consumption spending fell for the first time in 17 years.”

Our over-consumption as a nation, from the top of government to the 9 year old with a cell phone, has led us straight into this pit we now find ourselves.

Environmentalists have been pleading with the American public to reduce consumption since the 70’s and apparently we just couldn’t do it (For the last 17 years anyway). Guess what, 17 years ago was another recession; prior to that one we had similar consumption through the 80’s. So in essence we have not been able to conserve resources as a nation unless under a recession.

I was really amazed when just last week we watched the price of oil plummet from its all time high near $150/barrel to somewhere in the $60 price range. What that tells me is that we as the American public have tremendous power in affecting the price of oil! We have cut demand by not buying Hummers, ski boats, and various other consumables and have cut carbon output by tons and tons. I guess the takeaway for me is that we definitely have the power to reduce consumption drastically and have just chosen not to do so until we couldn’t afford not to do so.

Micah

Recession or no recession it was only a matter of time before this ill conceived plan came crashing down.

I give it another 60 days before they drop the brand all together.

Levi

Its weird to me that this is going on and no one seems to be talking about it. I read all my usual news sources today and heard nothing about Tennessee being out of gas..

Makes you stop and think about when it really does happen. I am 27 and one day in my lifetime it’s going to happen for real. And at this rate we are going to be nowhere near ready.

Levi

I am intrigued, just the thought that this car might actually be for real makes me excited. If the stated 125 mile range is for real and $2 re-fueling, then this thing could change everything….You can read more here.

I was just remarking to a friend today how I recall with some affection and some disdain the little bit of four-wheeling I did while growing up. I can’t imagine having missed out on the reward of getting my beat-up Toyota pickup when I turned 16. I consider myself a reluctant auto enthusiast but recently decided that two cars was too much. So I can really relate to what the writer of this article is saying. I feel melancholy to realize that we are so utterly dependent on cars in our lifestyle but optimistic that we will be able to move beyond fossil fuel to power them. It hasn’t been easy to choose to ride a bike most places but the exercise is great. The reality is that so many people don’t have any other choice than to drive very far to persist in their lives and careers.

Some trends die off quickly and others seem to overstay their welcome by a long shot. I heard someone say recently (although I can not remember who it was or where they said it), that the stone age did not end because we ran out of stones – it ended because we found better ways of doing things.

One of those things I think should be dead is suburban tract development and yet despite my best efforts to will its demise, it remains today the housing option of choice. I wonder if it will take a complete collapse of the world’s oil supply to secure its end or if we will figure out that there are better ways of doing things first…