The Recycling Bin: Oil at $70 a Barrel

The price of oil, like our stock market, is plunging. For the first time in a year, we have $70-a-barrel oil, and gas stations around the country have responded by lowering prices. This is good for pocketbooks but bad for environmentalists—if gas is cheap, what happens to all the time and energy spent developing eco-friendly alternatives? Here's what the blogosphere says:

Keith Johnson of the Wall Street Journal wonders which is worse for clean energy proponents—the financial crisis or the plunging price of oil? Says Johnson, "When oil prices collapsed in the 1990s, renewable energy in the U.S. basically fell off a cliff. Nobody is predicting a return to $10 oil, but with $60 oil considered the 'new cheap,' could it happen again?"

Does cheap oil mean the return of the SUV? Dan Shapely of the Daily Green says no: "Congressional mandates for vehicle efficiency, coupled with the writing on the wall that oil prices are destined to rise in the future—worldwide demand is still forecast to increase by 500,000 barrels a day next year—means the SUV is unlikely to make a quick resurgence."

The Environmental Protection Agency has released this year's (perhaps ill-timed) list of the most fuel-efficient vehicles. Topping the list, unsurprisingly, is the Prius, followed by the Honda Civic Hybrid and the Nissan Altima Hybrid.

The sinking price of oil has ended up on Kiplinger's list of 10 things that are going well for consumers in this economy. Consumerist adds, "Maybe this means that you won't have to burn your furniture to stay warm."