Skimming through Facebook today, I was a little surprised to discover several groups calling for action on fuel prices, by boycotting petrol stations for a period of time, and so forth. Obviously, such campaigns can never work on an effective level, but it seems like while more and more people are becoming aware of climate change problems, there is still a lack of understanding as to the exact effect out own actions on the problem. Higher prices may not have occured entirely because of the deliberate actions of a climate change policy, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be welcomed. In our market economy, the only thing people really understand is prices. Higher prices lead to less usage. The current price does not in any way reflect the actual cost of oil - there are social costs of burning hydrocarbons today that will be incurred by future generations which are not factored into the price at the petrol station. Moreover, high prices also lead to more people putting more money into finding alternatives.

It is a shame that the oil industry will be benefitting so much in the short run from the higher prices - if the price increase had been solely the result of a carbon tax, then that money may have been put to good use in investing in sustainability. But its better than nothing.