Fuel prices are at an all-time high. In Quebec, a liter of gas has exceeded the symbolic mark of $2. In Europe, the average liter is $2.50. Diesel, on the other hand, hovers around $2.80 per litre, even more than $3 in Sweden and Finland. In Quebec, the latter is close to $2.60 per litre. These prices affect all people more or less strongly depending on their socio-economic situation. Needless to say, the more affluent suffer less from this price increase than the less affluent.
Posted at 4:00 p.m.
The problem is that our entire way of life is based on the combustion of fossil fuels, or, in other words, fuel. It’s simple: we have made oil, coal and gas the basis of our economic growth and, by the same token, of our collective emancipation. We have made fossil fuels the key to our prosperity. We have made non-renewable energies the only solution to all our socio-economic problems. Today, almost 80% of the energy consumed in the world comes from fossil fuels. Total annual consumption will approach 100 million barrels of oil per day. For the next few years, consumption will always be higher. No decline on the horizon then. Several new oil wells will be drilled by 2040 to meet demand. Oil will continue its momentum and the oil companies will continue to collect fabulous profits. Imperial Oil, Suncor, Canadian Natural Resources, Parkland Corporation: their net profit has reached record heights.
Suncor Energy, for example, posted profits of $2.96 billion in the first quarter of 2022 compared to $821 million during the same period last year.
The other problem is that we collectively need oil to maintain our standard of living, according to the standards that society imposes on us. To eat, to travel, to enjoy the outdoors, to sail, to build, oil is the most available and affordable energy. This energy had everything to be overconsumed.
Another problem is that the price of fossil fuels is regulated, like most of our lives, by the market of supply and demand. This invisible hand of the market economy, the benefits of which have been touted since the time of Adam Smith, nevertheless has perverse and harmful effects. This is precisely why a constellation of factors like the severe lockdowns in China due to the surge in COVID-19 cases, the war in Ukraine, the sharp rise in demand for fossil fuels in Europe, and disruptions in the global supply chains are disrupting all global markets. The repercussions of a war or any disruption in the supply and demand for fossil fuels no longer have borders. With extreme weather events becoming more frequent, high fuel prices will become the new reality. In a highly unpredictable world, the evolution of oil prices is difficult to predict because the events that affect the market are so many surprises.
Another problem is that fossil fuels, when burned, release a significant amount of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4).
These negative externalities associated with the bedrock of our economic and social development are destroying our planet a little more every day. In other words, it’s like a cancer that spreads at lightning speed in the body of a person, to whom doctors are slow to offer intensive chemotherapy and drugs, for lack of will. The medical staff know very well the seriousness of the patient’s cancer and the dramatic consequences that could result from their inaction. Let’s just replace the doctors with the political and economic leaders of this world.
Treatment is complex but essential, especially in the face of soaring oil prices. It consists of putting in place a range of measures that will accelerate the transition to a truly sustainable and healthy way of life. There is no shortage of measures and experts suggest countless of them in their reports that are often relegated to oblivion: eco-taxation, sustainable mobility, redesigned urban planning, optimization of public transport modes, reduction of motorway capacity and others.
Oil prices are historically high and that’s perfect, because they must be used for a very simple collective awareness: the cancer of humanity is oil.