Originally Posted by
aerospacepilot
Let me address a few key misconceptions about the price of oil.
It is all because of the weak dollar.
True, the price of oil rose because the value of the dollar has gone down. However, the value of the dollar is the same today (with oil at $130/barrel) as it was in the beginning on March 2008 (with oil at $103/barrel). So why has the price of oil increased $27/barrel (about 27% in 3 months) when the value of the dollar has been stable?
You are wrong here - what are you comparing the dollar against? You make the statement, "the value of the dollar is the same today," how are you measuring the value of the dollar? On March 1, 2008 one Dollar was worth about .66 Euros. Recently it has hit close to .63, so if you are comparing to the Euro the Dollar is worth less and thus one reason to sell dollars and buy oil. Take the Chinese Yuan in March it was around 7.1 Yuan now it is under 7. You cannot just make blanket unproven statements that are wrong to back up your case.
As to the critics of electric cars claiming they will harm the environment - when was the last time you just threw away your battery? Especially with the high price of some of the more sophisticated lithium ion batteries - there is an economic incentive to recycling them, they are worth money.