Oil prices hit historic highs. The stock market seems to be in a free fall as a the result.

The one biggest fault that I find with the Bush administration is that it is not using this increase in oil prices to push for long term reduction in our use of oil.

Conservation is not simply about having less...it is about structuring our lives so that we get the absolute most from the resources that we consume. In this regard, I think the steady increase in gas prices is actually healthy for the economy since it is focussing people's attention on efficiency. For that matter, one of the first jobs I had was to use information technology to help reduce the fuel consumption of a fleet of trucks. The rising cost of a resource created a need for people to figure out how to get more from the resources consumed.

I also had temp jobs in construction. The firms I worked for were actively eying the cost of materials. When the cost of wood was high, they would employ people to salvage the wood. When it was low, the wood added to the landfills. Pulling nails from lumber is not the best job, but it is worthwhile in that it shows a tendency to maximize the return from invested resources as the price of the resource rose.

I think it is the nature of humans to become destructive when the price of resources is too low.

Anyway, hopefully the rise in the price of fuel is getting people to think about ways to realign their lives and businesses to be less dependent on oil. Is is possible to shorten the commute? Or perhaps it is possible to own two cars: a economy car for every day travel, then the gas guzzling jeep for rare excursions?

Sadly, our fearless leader is not really taking this opportunity to push long term conservation. Oil prices are rising and Bush's circle of oil buddies are getting richer than ever. Bush looks at the economy. His circle of friends is getting richer than ever before. Nothing wrong here!!!!!!!

As for my get rich quick schemes (I really should call these a get to minimum wage quick scheme), I've added a Back to School page and a Earth Friendly products page to the various web sites. In my attempts to put your money where my mouth is, it seems that what I should try to do with the sites is emphasize quality over quantity and sustainable living.