ORIGINAL: TideFlyer
IMHO, gasoline at $10.00/gal. would absolutely fold up our economy. The cost of goods and services would be so high that wages wouldn`t even come anywhere close for the vast majority of Americans. I don`t even want to think about what our society would look like with that scenario. Hope we don`t have to find out!
By the time things hit $8.00 there would be so much screaming that the politicos on both sides may FINALLY get off their duffs and start moving us to a hydrogen economy.
Cheap, infinitely replenishable, non-polluting, no-major factory retooling (you CAN run cars on it with non-dramatic changes to the manufacturing process ).... and you can even power heavy equipment, planes, etc. with it due to the high energy/weight ratio.... can you say 150 mpg ( actually it's 150 miles per 2.2lbs of hydrogen... )
BUT you -MUST- have cheap electricity available.... and the only viable source fo an ever increasing thirst for electricity will be nuclear... and everyone's scared of that word.... maybe someday I'll get my Mr. Fusion instead!
We'll still need to drill for oil too... after all you need it for thinks like plastics, etc.