03-30-2014, 12:18 PM
When it comes to Hawaii, costs are almost totally based on a foundation of oil. There are all kinds of smoke screens being thrown up to draw attention away from the price of oil affecting everything on these islands.
http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/?iid=C_MT_Index
Oil briefly flirted with $105 per barrel a few months ago. It went down a bit for a short while but is starting the climb back up to $105 per barrel. Believing Hawaii is somehow getting cutrates for oil from Indonesia is another pipe dream. Oil is never going to go much below $100 per barrel for the next few years, then it will steadily skyrocket from there. Shale oil needs to be priced at $100 per barrel to be profitable. Projections are that US shale oil supplies will be depleted in about 6 years.
Transportation is dominated by oil for cars, trucks and jets. If oil goes up, transportation cost goes up. If the cost of transportation goes up, the cost of food goes up. Hawaii has a dream of self sustainability and Hawaii island has the potential. However, the reality today is like a $1000 a day heroin addict worrying about what he is going to invest his lottery fortune in if he ever wins. The addiction has to be admitted to first, then the dependency has to be kicked before self sufficiency can even enter the conversation.
Being another unfortunate person that has had to return to the mainland, it is a shock to go into the grocery store and see bananas for 69 cents per pound, strawberries 2 pounds for $3, grapes for $2.99 per pound, the fish is all fresh on the Oregon coast - not previously frozen.
http://weeklyspecials.safeway.com/customer_Frame.jsp?drpStoreID=2790&showFlash=false
These things cost twice as much in Hawaii due to the shipping and refrigeration. With the way things are going, self sufficiency and sustainability will be like distant fairy tales compared to what the prices will be if Hawaii cannot wean itself off oil dependency.
"This island Hawaii on this island Earth"
http://money.cnn.com/data/commodities/?iid=C_MT_Index
Oil briefly flirted with $105 per barrel a few months ago. It went down a bit for a short while but is starting the climb back up to $105 per barrel. Believing Hawaii is somehow getting cutrates for oil from Indonesia is another pipe dream. Oil is never going to go much below $100 per barrel for the next few years, then it will steadily skyrocket from there. Shale oil needs to be priced at $100 per barrel to be profitable. Projections are that US shale oil supplies will be depleted in about 6 years.
Transportation is dominated by oil for cars, trucks and jets. If oil goes up, transportation cost goes up. If the cost of transportation goes up, the cost of food goes up. Hawaii has a dream of self sustainability and Hawaii island has the potential. However, the reality today is like a $1000 a day heroin addict worrying about what he is going to invest his lottery fortune in if he ever wins. The addiction has to be admitted to first, then the dependency has to be kicked before self sufficiency can even enter the conversation.
Being another unfortunate person that has had to return to the mainland, it is a shock to go into the grocery store and see bananas for 69 cents per pound, strawberries 2 pounds for $3, grapes for $2.99 per pound, the fish is all fresh on the Oregon coast - not previously frozen.
http://weeklyspecials.safeway.com/customer_Frame.jsp?drpStoreID=2790&showFlash=false
These things cost twice as much in Hawaii due to the shipping and refrigeration. With the way things are going, self sufficiency and sustainability will be like distant fairy tales compared to what the prices will be if Hawaii cannot wean itself off oil dependency.
"This island Hawaii on this island Earth"
*Japanese tourist on bus through Pahoa, "Is this still America?*