Less than a year ago, gasoline and home heating oil prices in Alaska were over $5 per gallon.   Now, because global demand for oil has decreased due to the recession,  oil prices have dropped over half price.   This has decreased interest and investment in renewable energy projects.   HOWEVER,   as soon as the economy gets a glimmer of recovering, OPEC will be raising prices again, spinning the economy BACK into recession.   At least this is the “hope” of the investment community according to this article in Trend Capital:

“Pioneer Astronautics president Robert Zubrin says the OPEC decision will not boost oil prices much right now.

“But as soon as the world economy starts to recover this decision, combined with OPEC’s other recent decisions to take crude out of production, will shoot oil prices up over $100 per barrel,” Zubrin told Trend Capital via e-mail.

He said all these decisions could send the world economy right back into recession, causing oil prices to collapse again.”

Obviously there is a tight coupling with energy costs and the economy.  By creating a more distributed energy model where we are all producing our own energy or at least we produce the energy we need much closer to where it’s actually needed, OPEC will continue to be able to exert far too much influence over the economic stability of our day to day lives.

This is why it’s imperative, EVEN with current day oil prices, that we use this time of lower prices to learn how to become energy independent.   By breaking the energy monopoly that oil has on our energy needs, THEN we will have more stable oil prices.   This is a matter of national security as well as a matter of our own economic security.