Is There a 'Green' Lining in the Cloud of This Oil Crisis?

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The Senate is holding hearings on whether oil prices are being manipulated by investors. Who gains from higher prices? What kind of lifestyle changes will Americans be forced to make? Will more people go green? Guest host Sara Terry looks beyond sticker price shock at the gas pump. Also, speculation on the results of today's primaries, and if you think gas prices are high, imagine spending three quarters of your income on food.  A major UN summit opens today in Rome to tackle the global food crisis.

Photo: William Thomas Cain/Getty Images

Making News

AP Calls Primary for Obama, Clinton Ponders Next Move ()

New reports and pundits are speculating today about what Hillary Clinton will say tonight in her speech from New York after polls close in the final two primary states of South Dakota and Montana. Regardless of whether Barack Obama wins those contests, political analysts say, the focus will be on Clinton. Marc Ambinder is associate editor at The Atlantic, where he writes a daily political blog.

Guests:

• Marc Ambinder: Associate Editor, The Atlantic

Main Topic

Rising Oil Prices, Changing Lifestyles and Consumer Choices ()

The spiraling cost of gas is hitting hard everywhere. Truckers and fishermen in Europe are protesting prices that have reached $10 a gallon. As hearings were held in the US Senate today about whether oil prices are being manipulated by speculators, General Motors announced that it is closing four SUV and pick-up plants, along with plans to roll out more fuel efficient vehicles. What kind of long-term changes are in store? Have Americans reached the tipping point in terms of their consumer lifestyle? Will suburbs be forced to transform into small towns?

Guests:

• Rana Faroohar: International Economics Editor, Newsweek
• Daniel Fisher: Senior Editor, Forbes
• Vijay Vaitheeswaran: Global Correspondent, The Economist
• Christopher Leinberger: Visiting Fellow, Brookings Institution
• Sam Staley: Director of Urban Growth Policy, Reason Foundation

Links:

• Vaitheeswaran's 'Zoom: The Global Race to Fuel the Car of the Future'
• Leinberger's (Atlantic) article on suburban slums
• Leinberger's 'The Option of Urbanism: Investing in the New American Dream'
• Staley's argument against government getting involved in gas, oil market
• Staley's 'The Road More Traveled: Why the Congestion Crisis Matters More Than You Think and What We Can Do About It'
• Fisher's article on winners and losers in energy crisis
• Vaitheeswaran's 'Power to the People: How the Coming Energy Revolution Will Transform an Industry, Change Our Lives, and Maybe Even Save the Planet'

Reporter's Notebook

The UN Hunger Summit ()

In Rome today, world leaders have gathered to try to come up with a plan for dealing with the growing food crisis. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened the conference, telling delegates that food production must rise by 50% by 2030 to meet increasing demands. But food wasn't the only thing that had leaders shaking their heads. The arrival of one official at the conference has caused an uproar. Tracy Wilkinson is Rome Bureau Chief for the Los Angeles Times.

Guests:

• Tracy Wilkinson: Southern Europe Bureau Chief, Los Angeles Times

Host

Sara Terry

A former staff correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor and magazine freelance writer, Sara Terry made a mid-career transition into photojournalism and documentary photography in the late 1990's. Her long-term project about the aftermath of war in Bosnia, Aftermath: Bosnia’s Long Road to Peace, was published in September 2005. Her work has been widely exhibited, at such venues as the United Nations, the Museum of Photography in Antwerp, and the Moving Walls exhibition at the Open Society Institute in New York. Her photographs are in the permanent collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and in many private collections. In 2005, she received a prestigious Alicia Patterson Fellowship for her work in Bosnia. She is also the founder of The Aftermath Project, a nonprofit grant program which helps photographers cover the aftermath of conflict. She resides in Los Angeles and is currently working on her next long-term project, Forgiveness and Conflict: Lessons from Africa.

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Produced by

Frances Anderton, Dan Konecky, Sonya Geis

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