I am writing this a few days after a major earthquake and tsunami devastated parts of Japan. How tragic and painful it must be for the millions of people immediately affected. I cannot wrap my head around the scope of this tragedy. Ultimately it will affect everyone in the world economically, ecologically and geologically. The price of oil, already under pressure by the unrest in the Middle East, will continue to climb to new highs as nuclear energy will be a less attractive energy source due to a backlash of public opinion. Ironically what is learned from the aftermath of the Japanese event will allow nuclear plants to be better designed, and eventually more common, because there are few alternatives to them. Sure we can continue to turn corn into ethanol, creating less energy than used to create it, while millions starve around the world. (I think I just described a Malthusian-based Ponzi scheme.) Numerous governments will be destabilized as prices rise...