51/70

Hey dig this. We're up to a whopping 51% of all paper used in the U.S. being made from recycled paper! Whoot. That means only 49 million tons of paper used in American wasn't paper before it was paper. hey hey.

Unfortunately, oil is up over $69 a barrel this morning, and we're looking at the possiblity of $80 a barrel very soon. Why? Well, in part because Saudi Arabia said that while it could increase it's production by about 35%, that means it would reach it's peak oil production in only 20 years. Ouch.

Now even OPEC is saying that the big oil consumers (that's us and China) need to really start taking steps to cut down on demand. It's interesting how closely timed this all is to Iran's nuclear announcement. I can see the OPEC nations looking at slower production growth as a long term consideration for their economic health. On the other hand, everyone's got to be considering that there's a breaking point somewhere, where industrial nations shift so far over to renewables that oil is about as valuable as steel. Although, considering all the other crap you can make from oil (a lot of plastic for example), it'll never completely become worthless.....