Malcom Gladwell offers a typically well-written piece on geothermal energy as used by his father in their family home in Ontario, Canada which is not far from here. Gladwell’s father offers a very clear explanation of how this clean technology works, including (fear not), some basic math.

BP closed down the Prudhoe Bay oilfield in Alaska today because of problems with their pipeline, problems severe enough that it may be closed for months. It is 8% of US capacity gone overnight. Prices are expected to add ten dollars a barrel. Today oil closed in London at over $78/barrel.
Their problems are corrosion, however we can expect additional issues as pipelines built on permafrost start to fail as the frost melts.
We’re experiencing a ‘perfect storm’ for driving oil prices up: Katrina, war in the Middle East, poor relations with Venezuela and now this. The true paranoids including some highly respected economists see oil hitting $300. This would translate to around $12/gallon. That should get the attention of even the most sceptical deniers out there.

Well, I finally got out and saw Al’s movie. What can I say? It should be required that every kid in the country see it and then send a copy home with them so they can make their parents watch it. As a film it is very well done, including autobiography that actually has a context for his interest in climate change. The presentation is visually stunning and I’ve never seen complex information conveyed so clearly. Nothing like a lecture at all.
I don’t know what happened to Al Gore but this is probably the best campaign spot ever made. He is confident, sensitive, humorous, and above all, real and passionate. This guy should run for President again so we can rectify the terrible mistake made in 2000.
More posts coming related to this topic- the film is terrifying and entertaining and thought-provoking. You don’t get that combo very often.

Today I filled up and paid $3.26. Same Exxon station, same gas. On July 28th as I noted here, I paid $3.18. The wholesale cost of oil has not changed since then. So is this how Exxon Mobil achieves its record profits? By simply upping the price to whatever the market will bear?