Today's high gas prices have many roots -Knight Ridder

[Rose Siding]

snip>
"The oil market, believe it or not, is being fueled by your pension fund," said Philip K. Verleger, a noted oil economist in Aspen, Colo. "For more than a decade, investment bankers have been advising pension funds to put 10 percent or 11 percent of their assets into commodities."

The New York Mercantile Exchange last month reported an all-time high in trading for crude oil-futures contracts. Regulators said noncommercial traders, pension funds and the more speculative hedge funds accounted for 34 percent of the contracts last month.
.....
India and China also are stretching supplies, as fast-developing nations. China is on course to equal today's U.S. consumption of oil by 2020. While the United States imports oil mainly to power vehicles, China imports it to power industry. China's industrial growth, in great measure, is tied to the strong U.S. economy that buys its exports. American consumers pay China's oil bills.

"We're the ones buying the goods from China. It is driving their increased demand for energy," said John Giglio, an oil expert and the executive director of the National Association of State Energy Officials in Alexandria, Va.

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/11337800.htm

[Straight Shooter]

1. "... goods from China. It is driving their increased demand for energy."

My number one reason for telling people not to shop at W-Mart, because their demand for cheap goods will eventually bite them in the a**.

I have no solution, however, considering the state of economic deprivation so many of us find ourselves in, except perhaps to recycle, repair, and resist the temptation of consumerism :shrug:

[cliss]

2. Well said.

We need to cut back on our "crap-buying binges". I live south of Portland. There has been a grove of fir trees close to the freeway which miraculously was able withstand all the development that was going on down there.

As the development got closer and closer, I worried about that beautiful grove. It took about 10 years for the Stihl power saws to finally fell every single fir tree, most of them probably over 100 feet tall.

What grew in their place was an enormous, solid box called Crate & Barrel. The store is doing really well...lots of people shop there.

To this day I will not set foot in that store. I'm protesting for those trees, which are missed by 1 person.

We need to stop shopping at Wal-Mart, more than any other store. We also need to conserve gas.

[Canuckistanian]

3. What will happen when energy prices rise enough?

Will it still be cheaper to import goods from halfway around the world?
Locally made goods might just become a reality again.

[Rockerdem]

4. Nuclear powered container ships

A possibility. But your scenario is probably more accurate.

[0007]

5. Take dead aim at Wall-Mart for a variety of reason!

[heidler1]

6. Stores that do not use Wal-Mart methods of bringing goods to the

consumer as cheaply as Wal-Mart will suffer even more as fuel prices increase. Consumers will surely go to big box stores more and more as the advantage of doing all of ones shopping at one location becomes more apparent. The only exception will be a revival of the neighborhood food market that you can walk to, send the kids to. or ride your new golf cart to. I would guess that having parking for golf carts would become a big advantage to these stores. People would be able to recharge their batteries at home and use stores within about a mile radius. Cities will be forced to allow golf carts on the streets. The speed limit will be lowered.