X-Message-Number: 26476 From: "Mark Plus" <> Subject: The era of easy jet travel draws to a close? Date: Sat, 02 Jul 2005 20:59:30 -0700 http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/07/01/business/wbmarket02.php With Interest: To cut oil dependence, look to the skies By Daniel Altman International Herald Tribune SATURDAY, JULY 2, 2005 With crude oil prices having topped $60 a barrel this week, politicians in the United States and the European Union - doubtlessly joined in private by their colleagues in the Far East - have again bemoaned their countries' dependence on foreign oil. Yet taking a big chunk out of the oil market could be surprisingly easy. The key isn't here on the ground; it's up, up in the air. Efforts to reduce the world's need for oil have most often focused on cars. The oil shocks of the 1970s made smaller, more fuel-efficient cars desirable. More recently, cars with hybrid engines have captured the imagination of ozone-loving environmentalists and oil-loathing politicians alike.... But there's good reason to shift the world's attention to airplanes. Cutting demand for jet fuel would take pressure off of markets for diesel, kerosene and heating oil, as well as reducing the price of crude. Of course, the market could "solve" the problem through the collapse of the middle-class airline industry so that only the super-wealthy can afford to fly. Mark Plus Manage your risk, not your terror. Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=26476