Which way is the wind blowing? Into your face

The headwinds are picking up because the economy is slowing down in America. That's what the "experts" tells us. So crude oil was over $100 per barrel Tuesday because of weak dollar, and because the U.S. doesn't control its own energy supply and we're the self-proclaimed rich guys on the planet, etc. etc. Has the market now reversed positon on the Exxon/Venezuela squabble? We consumers are just going to pay more for energy of all kinds and that likely means less for everything else...oh, except food prices will also continue to climb because they also depend heavily on energy for the farming, the fertilizing, the shipping, the processing, the refrigeration, the paving of the supermarket parking lots, etc. etc.

As more money and public attention turn toward green tech as an alternative to fossil fuels, there will necessarily be more emphasis on the negatives of any new tech. There will be charges that such-and-such a tech is not really environmentally friendly. Biofuels already face numerous objections over land use, heavily fertilizer pollution, higher food prices, inefficiency, et al. And one long-standing objection to wind power is the damage it does to flying animals. Now a major study is being done in windy Illinois to see how extensive that damage really is. When they get done with that we'll see which way the wind blows.

Meanwhile Venture Capital will be seeking out every viable source of alternative energy because they must already be figuring what energy's going to be worth when crude oil hits $125 a barrel.