Petro based economy means cost of transportation will make all prices rise to the tide of oil pricing, and as we all know, the tide there seems to ever rise.
Batteries, gentlemen, batteries... if the US gov would only invest and/or encourage battery technology development instead of wasting Billions in Iraq we would all be much better off. Our futures would be far better off. If we had better battery technology we could end our dependence on old-style power sources (from cars and trains to the generation of power for the grid). As someone who has been involved in the utility business for over 25 years I can say aloud that the single most important improvement that would, in fact, end our dependence on Petroleum (or need for more nuclear) would be if we could store power more efficiently and the key to that door is battery technology. We have the means, but we have sorely lacked the will at the highest levels. Cost of lead to us or cost of ammo---the rising prices for oil/petro products means higher costs no matter what the raw costs may be.
I am tired of sheiks and their good buddies in gov artificially forcing the prices to rise on the things important to me in my life.
