redblueamerica.com

Remember the 1970s? I was young enough that my memories of that decade are kind of hazy. But I'm guessing it looked something like this:

Gasoline prices, which for months lagged behind the big run-up in the price of oil, are suddenly rising quickly, with some experts saying they could approach $4 a gallon by spring. Diesel is hitting new records daily, and oil settled at a record high of $100.88 a barrel on Tuesday.

The increases could not come at a worse time for the economy. With growth slowing, energy increases that were once easily absorbed by consumers are now more likely to act as a drag on household budgets, leaving people with less money to spend elsewhere. These costs could worsen the nation’s economic woes, piling a fresh energy shock on top of the turmoil in credit and housing.

“The effect of high oil prices today could be the difference between having a recession and not having a recession,” said Kenneth S. Rogoff, a Harvard economist.

Gas lines anybody?

I'll just go ahead and say that's not good. Wouldn't it have been nice to have a serious alternative energy effort sometime during the past three decades? Did we really not think this could happen again?