fossil-fuels

Recent history has been extraordinarily difficult for U.S. and foreign car makers, as they’ve been hit by everything from the deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression to a tsunami in Japan. In response to consumer concerns about operating costs, the 2012 Detroit Auto show featured many models with higher gas mileage, but there was also plenty of choice for those still in the market for bigger and more powerful vehicles.

On April 20, 2010, BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, leading to the largest oil spill in world history — more than five million barrels. While much of the surface oil dispersed faster than expected after the well was capped in July, undersea plumes linger, as do the spill’s impacts on the environment and human health.

The time when heavy appliances dominated home energy use seems almost as remote as the era of gaslights and streetcars. Today our homes’ electric outlets have never been more sought after — computers, printers, modems, set-top boxes, and endless chargers all clamor for power — leaving refrigerators and washers as small players in the utility bill we receive.

Over the past five years the price of oil has gone through wild swings — record highs are followed by more “normal” periods, sharp spikes alternate with modest troughs. Powering all this volatility is a complex mix of economics, political factors and industry developments.

Numerous studies have shown that automotive pollution has a wide range of negative health effects, including heart and lung disease. Much of the blame has been pinned on gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and ozone, but the role of suspended particulate matter has been less clear.