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It seems the rise in oil prices is (as many here have described, either individually or collectively) the result of a "perfect storm": an escalating demand from two huge countries suddenly coming into wealth and prominence (China and India); a war on (or near) the land over a major oil supply; aging refineries and the oil companies' reluctance to invest in new ones), a national government that has been, in recent years lacadasical (to say the least) about enforcing anti-trust laws, especially when it comes to those industries that make campaign contributions; an oligopoly of major petroleum countries (Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil and British Petroleum--two thirds of which are not within the jurisdiction of those anti-trust laws) and pretty much can set prices where they want; a Saudi Arabian oil cartel which has no real reason to increase production and lower prices for a country that attacked one of its neighbors; and finally, a nation that is very much dependant on oil which was caught with its pants down.
Need I say the latter again? Face it; we Americans aren't very good at conserving. One look at all the single-occupant cars on any given freeway during rush hour makes that obvious. And it didn't help when off-road vehicles became fashionable. This is especially pathetic when Grandma volunteers to move the cars around to get one vehicle for everyone to go to the movies, backs the SUV out of the driveway, misses the pavement and runs over the petunias--and that's the only time this alleged off-road vehicle ever goes off the road.
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