Nations uncertain on how to adjust to oil prices

Loory: Almost two weeks ago, my wife and I left Columbia en route to Orlando and then to Los Angeles for our grandchildren’s high school graduations. When we left, for the first time a tank of gasoline for our car cost more than $50. However, the huge gasoline price increase does not mean highway use is slowing down. Rush-hour traffic in Atlanta, Orlando, Mobile, Ala., and Houston is still bumper-to-bumper, and we saw almost no use of the high-occupancy lane on Houston’s Interstate 45. While American drivers take the fuel increases in stride and do little to object to record profits by petroleum companies or the inactivity of government in keeping prices down, protests have been growing around the world. In Spain and Portugal, truck drivers have been striking in protest. In India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, South Korea and Chile there have been similar work stoppages. And are we in for an increasingly gloomy energy crisis?