Natural Gas Prices Are Up And Likely Going Higher Due To Global Warming Caused By Global Climate Change

EEI reports today that:

Turn to Gas to Add Emergency Power Could Trickle Down Costs to Consumers

As temperatures rise and the nation's power grid is stressed, natural gas prices are on the rise, putting financial pressures on the power-suppliers, the Associated Press reported. EEI spokesman Jim Owen was quoted by the newswire as saying: "If higher prices are sustained at the wholesale level, over time, they'll filter into the customer's rates." Wrote the AP: "He noted, though, that utility costs depend on state regulations and whether the company is already locked into a long-term natural gas contract."

The heat has a ripple effect for consumers. Owen was quoted by AP as saying: "You've got a national heat wave coast to coast, and natural gas is the fuel used for peaking electricity demand." According to the newswire, "natural gas rose 22.5 cents to settle at $7.799 per thousand cubic feet Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after soaring as high as $8.545."

Fimat USA analyst John Kilduff was quoted by the AP as saying: "The volatility has been spectacular," although he contended that prices have been "a little overblown." The AP said Kilduff believes prices "could certainly rise further if Thursday's natural gas inventory report shows a drop, or if Tropical Storm Chris turns into a hurricane as expected and heads toward the Gulf Coast."

Wrote the AP: "The Energy Department will release last week's natural gas inventory figures on Thursday. Market watchers are expecting a rise. The previous week, the United States had 2.76 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in underground storage -- well above the 5-year average for this time of year, but it had slipped from the prior week, causing some concern among traders."
Associated Press , Associated Press via MSNBC.com , Aug. 2.


We can't continue to ignore the costs of doing nothing about greenhouse gas emissions. They've heated the planet up to the point where we've got coast-to-coast heatwaves and tropical storms and hurricanes that scare the bejebuz out of everyone. The Bush junta is big on telling us how bad it would be for the economy for us to take serious steps to move away from carbon-based fuels. (It would actually be good for the economy, but that's another point.) What they don't bother to discuss is the cost of staying the disastrous course. But, of course, there are costs -- huge ones. As this week has shown.