In 2000 during George Bush’s first year in office the price of a barrel of oil cost 27.18 cents. Earlier today a barrel of oil reached 130 dollars. That is an increase of almost five fold…so…what’s going on and when is this going to stop? Well, from where I sit it will only stop or slow down when… the value of the dollars stops dropping… the oil investor/speculators decide the price of oil can’t go any higher and they opt out and look for some other investment industry to ruin. Apparently ruining the housing industry didn’t satisfy their unquenchable thirst to make a quick buck …or…we become serious about creating new alternative sources of energy. Personally, I am not optimistic about the price of gas coming down soon anytime, if ever, and I can imagine in the near future that gas may reach six or seven dollars a gallon. By near future, I mean, a year or two…Advocates of the free market believe that market forces will eventually lead to alternative sources of energy because there is too much money to be made. That may be true…but…the oil companies and certain sectors of the auto industry also have a stake in the use of oil and high gas prices. So, when will the market forces eventually lead us to the promise land of alternative energy sources. That is the million dollar question, now isn’t it? Only time will tell…In the meantime, we all need to hold on tight, conserve as much as we can and hope that our government officials from the top down realize that our government has a role and stake in doing what they can to move us as quickly as possible to alternative sources of energy…before…we are not only paying six or seven dollars for gas, but are also paying four dollars for a loaf of bread and five dollars for a gallon of milk.