Oil anxiety relapse
Fret, fret! Am I off the wall in thinking a company like ACS ought to be thinking about Plan B: what do we do if energy prices keep going up, our cost of doing business increases, and we have to compete for scarce dollars going to oil?
Higher Oil Prices Soon To Squeeze Consumers
Answer: $50
What does a barrel of crude oil cost, Alex?
Crude went to a record $50 yesterday. According to the NY Times:
Fueling these gains is the alignment of three events: record high demand, historically low spare production capacity, and a set of potentially destabilizing events in some of world’s the top oil-producing regions, including Iraq and Venezuela, to name only two.
Our good friends, the Saudis, are increasing production to “stabilize prices.” Still, there’s a lot of nervousness in the world, and here’s why…
How Do We Prepare for a World Without Cheap Oil?
It appears this business of end of cheap oil is getting more attention. The title above comes from an article from a Harvard Business School e-newsletter I got this morning. The meme is getting around.
So I pose the same question to the ACS: How do we prepare for a world without cheap oil? The reason I ask is because the Society’s business model still seems to be so based on physical transportation of people: lots of local offices, lots of staff driving round (much as I did 30 years ago when I came to work for the Society), lots and lots of meetings involving air travel and expensive hotels. I have often wondered what proportion of our budgets we spend moving bodies around. Could we start considering a business model based on electronic communication instead of movement? Cheap oil or not, it seems to me examining other possibilities is worth doing.
Think I'll increase my meds
So why hyperventilate, as I have, on FISpace—a blog re Society-related things—about possible oil supply peaks and about senior citizens edging-out teens for crappy jobs? Well, to me these are indicators about Mother’s Milk, about the stuff that makes the world go ‘round—money.
For me it all goes back to a remark in one of Ed Duke’s original posts about UK fund raisers saying for planned giving you’ve got to focus on the rich.
Hola! I help people and nonprofits for a living. I do that with Ant's Eye View and Lights. Camera. Help. I am a published Author, Teacher, Speaker, Blogger, Network Weaver, and Social Media Scientist. How can I help you? Shoot me a tweet or an email with any questions about this blog. 