Törölt nick Creative Commons License 2004.04.03 0 0 165
World oil markets might be able to absorb China’s burgeoning demand if energy demand in the United States slows down or declines. But it isn’t. Instead, it’s rising. Between 1990 and 2000, America’s total energy consumption increased by 16 percent, to the equivalent of nearly 48 million barrels of oil per day. America’s share of world energy consumption is rising, too. From 1990 to 2000, U.S. energy use increased from 25.3 percent to 27.3 percent of total world consumption. In 2000, Americans burned more fuel than all of the countries of Europe combined.

This is not to say that America shouldn’t use energy or that there’s anything inherently bad about America’s energy usage. These facts simply underscore an obvious truth: America’s economy was built on cheap energy, and America must continue to have cheap energy in copious quantities to continue having a high standard of living. But the era of cheap oil is over. As production declines and consumption increases, prices will rise and that will have devastating effects on the American economy.

http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=1614#top