The price of gasoline in the United States rose only modestly on Monday, even as oil prices climbed in response to a widening conflict in the Middle East.
If the war drags on, though, that could abruptly change.
The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran, and Iran’s counterattacks, have started to limit the export of oil and gas from the region, pushing global oil prices higher. West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures, the domestic oil benchmark, jumped about 6 percent on Monday to just over $71 a barrel. (The international benchmark rose about 7 percent.)
But gas prices tend to take days or weeks to respond to rising oil prices as refiners pass on expenses. So a prolonged war is certain to result in higher costs at the pump.
I often hear from liberals that climate change is an immediately solvable problem, that with modest changes to our live-styles and much higher taxes on the rich, we can address the problem and have a better society for all. It’s a very hopeful message, but also a very unscientific and frankly quite naive message to boot.
If addressing climate change in the serious fashion needed to address the worse impacts on it was an easy, inexpensive to thing to do, it would have been done a long time ago. If we could just immediately switch over to cheaper, more reliable battery electric cars, and meet all our needs by a few solar panels, we’d do it now.
But the truth is switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is much more technically challenging, and will require changes to our own lifestyles, and maybe a reduction to the human population through an expanded death penalty. It’s going to be amazingly expensive, and difficult on economy. But ignoring the problem is likely to be more expensive.
Most of that technology is getting better, thanks in a big part about government research and incentives that are pushing the market that way. But solutions aren’t cheap, nor easy, or without requiring often significant lifestyle changes. There needs to be an adult conversation, not memes and blaming the other political party for all our woes.
This is why I’ve really had little interest in Green New Deal, because I don’t think it’s serious or workable deal. Maybe it’s a message bill that will eventually get more flush on it’s bones and enacted, but as it is it won’t do much for serious problems we face today.
Oil prices surged and global stocks skidded after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran sparked fears of a wider conflict across the Middle East.
Oil traders scrambled to assess the extent of the disruption, including whether any traffic could still pass through the vital Strait of Hormuz. Futures for Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, jumped nearly 10%, heading toward $80 a barrel. Natural-gas futures also rallied.
The conflict threatens to upend the global oil market and send shock waves through the world economy. Brent crude has risen in recent weeks amid concerns about a potential strike on Iran
The roughly 40 data centers, which had been using enough electricity to supply more than one million homes, simultaneously switched to backup power sources in February 2025, when a high-voltage power line malfunctioned. The sudden plunge in electricity demand forced the grid operator to take quick action to avoid potentially serious damage.
The incident, details of which haven’t been reported, was the second such problem in Virginia within a span of months. In July 2024, about 70 data centers withdrew from the grid when another high-voltage line failed, requiring a similar scramble to keep power supply and demand in line.?
Balancing the two is critical in maintaining the health of the grid: Both undersupply and oversupply of electricity demand can cause power plants to fail, resulting in blackouts and repair challenges. The issue is especially pressing in Virginia, where data centers are projected to use as much as 57% of the state’s electricity by 2030.
