The Cheap Oil Era Is Over

The United States isn't well prepared for a high-cost oil future. The world's most technologically advanced nation has made only feeble efforts to develop alternatives to oil or to improve fuel efficiency, especially in cars. And though some of this reluctance is cultural - Americans like big cars and hate being forced to conserve - the main factor is economic: Oil has been so cheap for so long that most consumers simply don't worry about the risks of relying so heavily on a single fuel.