Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 06:24PM 
Our weekly news video will return next week, after I get back from vacation. After the BALLE conference in Boston last week I took the train to Long Island to visit my father. But even sitting poolside in the Hamptons, I can't stop thinking about energy issues! So here are a few stories for this week, and I'll have a new video and a commentary for you next Wednesday.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 06:20PM 
The Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) held their annual conference last week in Boston, and I was honored to give a keynote presentation. Other keynote speakers included Bill McKibbon, Marjora Carter, Judy Wicks, and Juliet Schor. Information on the conference is posted here, and you can order audio or video recordings of any of the keynote presentations (especially mine!) by clicking here.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 06:17PM 
Crude oil prices jumped $5 per barrel today to close at $136-1/2 per barrel as previously unheard of levels of price volatility are now becoming the norm. Last Friday, crude oil prices underwent their largest single-day price spike in history, climbing nearly $11 per barrel on the day. That historic event was accompanied by the release of other troubling economic news: home foreclosures reached a new record high, unemployment rose a half percentage point in May – the largest one-month jump since 1986, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell nearly 400 points. The Wall Street Journal also reported today that the U.S. trade deficit was nearly $61 billion for the month of April, and continuing to grow faster than at any time in the last three years. Oil imports for the month of June will cost the U.S. about $40 billion.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008 at 06:15PM 
America’s big three automakers continue to ignore the need for fuel-efficient vehicles, even as we plunge headlong into an oil crisis and an economic crisis. As gas prices in the U.S. top $4 dollars a gallon, Chrysler is preparing to release a new muscle car. The 2008 Dodge Challenger is a remake of the classic street rod introduced in 1970, and will be available in a 425 horsepower version that goes just 13 miles on a gallon of gasoline. The car is Chrysler’s attempt to rival Ford’s retro Mustang – sales of which were down 45 percent in May as drivers begin to glimpse the future of gasoline prices. General Motors has also announced it wants in on the muscle-car madness, and is preparing to reintroduce its classic Camaro sometime next year.
