Is it just me, or are you as amazed and disgusted as I am by the recent item in the news about Exxon-Mobil's profits? In the last quarter, their profits were up almost 75% to almost $10 billion dollars! As summarized in a recent USA today article by Matt Krantz, Exxon has reported:
* Net income up 75% to $9.92 billion. That is the most a U.S. company has earned from operations in a three-month period [...]
*Revenue up 32% to $100.7 billion. That is greater than the annual GDP of all but just 38 of the world's economies. Note also that Royal Dutch Shell reported $9 billion, BP $6.5 billion.... etc. The reason this all makes me a bit sick to the stomach is that as a civilization, we are spending such a relatively tiny amount of money on research into alternative fuel sources to oil. We are knowingly essentially ignoring all of the things that informed commenters (see here) have told us to prepare for. How are we ever going to stop this craziness, this gluttony, and look to the future? Why are we not looking out for our children's future, and the future of their children? It's all so depressing. So I repeat (and invite you to read my earlier post on just how crazy this is): Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid. -cvj
