I saw the answer to America's oil and transportation problems in Amsterdam

Amsterdam traffic jam:

Los Angeles traffic jam:

Think about it...

Nothing wrong with getting your fat a** on a bike

Think that house 20 miles away from everything is depreciating fast today? Just wait. Welcome to a world with not enough oil to meet demand.

Get beyond the "peak oil" argument and freak show, and just look (again, and as always) to basic supply and demand. Long term we know we'll move off of oil and into renewable energy resources, but short term, we're screwed. There isn't enough production capacity to meet demand over the next decade or more, with China, India and the developing world heating up, and the US addicted to the black stuff with absolutely no conservation plan or renewables push.

We're simply gonna run short. And how does the market deal with shortages? You got it - prices will go through the roof. The only way to lower demand, and it will be painful (for consumers) yet oh, so profitable (for oil companies and refiners and alternative fuel producers).

Get ready. And if you haven't already, sell that house out in the exurbs as fast as you can. And the stupid Hummer H2 too.

Oil companies see profits soar … but warn production cannot meet demand

OIL GIANTS BP, Shell and Exxon will heighten fears that petrol prices are set to jump the £1-a-litre barrel barrier this week when they are all expected to admit that their production is failing to keep pace with surging global demand.

Their message will reinforce the recent stark warning from the International Energy Agency that there could be oil industry shortages stretching up to 2012 despite the vast sums now being spent on exploration and development.

For once the disappointing news on output could overshadow the level of profits the companies are earning even though Exxon, for example, is expected to announce second quarter earnings of approaching $11 billion (£5.5bn) which is the highest ever earned by a single company in such a short period.

The oil companies are expected to blame various outside factors for the disappointing production levels, including falling output from the North Sea, terrorism in Nigeria and Iraq and political interference in Venezuela, as well as restrictions by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Got oil?