I managed to find somebody yesterday who is optimistic about the US economy! . He was quite a smart fellow who owns a print and copy shop and owns a masters degree in economics. No dummy. His viewpoint did make sense. He forecasted that the devaluation of the dollar is a blessing which will lead to more exporting from the US being possible and that this will lead in the next year or two to a new boom in manufacturing in the USA. I don't know if this is true. But it was nice to meet at least one sentient person who is also optimistic. And this kind of viewpoint really applies to other things too including the price of gas.

There is a particularly great advantage of the lofty price of oil that environmentalists should be celebrating: it is making alternative energy much more attractive, so much so that the high price may open the door, finally for a major wave of renewable energy projects which could, consequently, lead to greater scale economies and perhaps the movement of alternative fuel sources into the mainstream. This would be a serious lemons to lemonade sort of scenario.

The present scenario is that the high price of energy is doing some pretty bad things -- but if a movement towards saner energy sources results, this silver lining could be an epic and historic shift.

The longer gas prices remain at prices most people consider unacceptable, the more substantial potential consumer reaction. A 10% rise in gas prices lessens consumption by just 0.6% in the short term, but it lowers demand more significantly over a longer period of time

As people decide on the important things for the future, such as where to live and what type of car they want, they are beginning to factor in the cost of fuel. Some are opting for smaller cars or are relocating nearer to their offices to lessen drive time.

The recent concern has halted or slowed many new subdivisons, high gasoline prices have lowered consumption and restrained purchasing of gas-guzzlers, and increasing construction costs are restraining new coal and gasoline refineries.

Meanwhile, a shift in government subsidies from the oil industry to alternative energy sources are generating a frenzy of new renewable energy construction.

But the truly fascinating factor is that all this is occuring while the real remedy for to improvement in MPG and helping the environment through cleaner emissions is RIGHT HERE AT