Just yesterday I was in a gathering where the price of oil and coal were discussed. The rosy "it'll turn around" comments were absent from the insiders. "Five to six years out" was the most optimistic comment. And I think that comment is likely truly optimistic. In today's paper there's an article about service industries that are struggling, and another one on the state's outmigration, something that was inevitable.
Interestingly, there was also an article about the last underground British coal mine closing, which occurred last week. Prior to World War Two 1,000,000 British were employed in coal mining, now its fading away. Britain, the article notes, still uses coal for about 1/5th of its power generation, but it is anticipated that this will end.
I've commented on this all before, but the best evidence is that we live in a new economic regime regarding energy and fuels. Perhaps the beginning of a new era.
Part of that era is fuel efficiency, on the fuels we are using. The new gasoline 3/4 ton trucks get 16 mpg in town and about 25 mpg on the highway. A truck, that is. My 2007 diesel, currently convalescing with a sick diesel particulate filter in the shop, gets 16 mpg to 20 mpg on the highway, which I always thought was good.
That may help explain why I saw diesel for sale in town yesterday for $2.13.
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