A USA Today Editorial: Falling oil prices present mixed blessing for consumers

High gas prices have prompted automakers to shift to more efficient cars and new technologies. Toyota’s Prius hybrid has been a runaway success. And General Motors has been pouring resources into its Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid expected in about 2010 that will run entirely on electricity for drivers going less than 40 miles per day.

Wind and solar energy are becoming more competitive as the result of advancing technology and the fact that prices have risen for coal and other traditional sources of electricity. And Americans are turning to public transit in record numbers.

These changes are much more dramatic than anything resulting from proposals borne of political expedience. To be sure, high prices cause hardships, and the worst could come this winter from painfully high home heating oil prices; Congress and the president should look hard at increasing funds to help the poorest through a tough winter. But if oil prices continue falling, much of the recent momentum could be slowed, to the delight of those who profit from feeding the nation’s addiction.

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Posted in * Economics, Politics, * International News & Commentary, America/U.S.A., Economy, Energy, Natural Resources

5 comments on “A USA Today Editorial: Falling oil prices present mixed blessing for consumers

  1. Jeffersonian says:

    “Oil Prices Fall: Women and Minorities Hardest Hit”

  2. drjoan says:

    Consider where those “profits” go–into your and my pensions! Plus, do we get so energized over movie stars or Bill Gates or even Warren Buffet making so much money? If they couldn’t we couldn’t.

  3. COLUMCIL says:

    Bull!

  4. Sick & Tired of Nuance says:

    It may be a mixed blessing for the writer, but for me and mine it is a wonderful blessing. Thank you Lord! Please keep the blessings coming.

  5. Stefano says:

    I’m curious as to why someone of Canon Harmons’ credentials reads ‘USA Today’ and why we are not seeing citations out of more, dare we say, peer-reviewed journals ?