See the Qatari energy chief's statements yesterday: https://hexbear.net/post/7875589
Locally fuel prices have shot up before any of the actual consequences of the shipping disruption have begun, and I'm temporarily shielded from the real initial shock by domestic production. The 1973 Oil Crisis was a big contributor to cars becoming more efficient and EV technology being re-adopted. My city's bike trail network began construction in response to how many people switched to cycling after it. That initial network, which is much cheaper and faster to construct and easier to maintain than a road, induced demand for a whole socioecological shift in the city's development. Intact concrete panels from the 1980s wind along protected waterways and high-density housing, cleared of snow within hours of a storm by a single pickup truck, with everyone of every age being able to birdwatch in native habitat for free.
Even with the price of electricity increasing for AI slop, I'll pay around $20 to replace 99% of my urban driving this year. Anything within 80km is achievable with the current batteries and those are rapidly advancing, especially in terms of fire safety and recharge time. The experience is the complete opposite of everything I hate about driving. As a tech, it's poised for a Ford Model T moment of mass adoption that we started seeing with COVID. Most of the parts are there and they're waiting on economies of scale to make it into cheaper bikes more than they are new developments.
I think/hope/Timmy-pray that this will be the generational shock in oil and natural gas markets that break people out of car brain. Even if I wanted to trade in my car for an EV to avoid the fuel shortages/prices, the broader economic collapse makes that a pipe dream. People can at least afford something that costs 1/5th-1/10th of what a reliable used car does, and I think this might spiral into a crisis catastrophic enough to spur mass advocacy for the initial bike infrastructure in the places lacking it.
Otherwise I agree with the demons doing it that the war is apocalyptic, but it'd be nice if this is the big one for bicyclists. We might get barriers and happy neighbours.
God I wish I didn’t have a 150 mile round trip commute
When I had a similar one, it was the worst part of my day even when I commuted to do tech support for boomers. So much mileage and potential damage for my car, such a flood of stress hormones when I haven't yet woken up or am needing to decompress from work, only tolerable if I put on a podcast but didn't pay attention because of the millisecond responses needed to drive at 130kmh in heavy traffic. I might be so tired that I'm forgetting things, but if I didn't do it perfectly at best I might destroy the most expensive thing I own without killing something. It felt so poisonous once I could replace it. Now it's just a gentle 15 minute joy ride through the greenspaces I steward, usually the best part of my day and at least something that is enriching without stress. It'd make me a communist if I wasn't already a communist.
It’s the worst part of my day by far. The only upside is its given me a lot of time to listen to audiobooks, so far I’ve read State and Rev, Charles Stross’s The Merchant Princes series, Usula K LaGuin’s The Lathe of Heaven, and next on the list is What is to be Done?
It’s also over a very pretty mountain where I get to look down into the valley so that helps too. Still a really shitty way to start and end my work day.