Why didn't Time just call up EIA to ask what the numbers meant? Can't Time dig that deep? These numbers are EIA's best guess of the average, not the peaks. It's like the weatherman saying it rains only 1/10 of an inch per day on average in New York, and so Time reports that New York is not having any more rain storms, only drizzle for the next 20 years.

So what is EIA really saying? In 2007, they said the price would likely go down to $49 in 2015 and then up to $59 in 2030. One year later it hit $147. Now, they have doubled both estimates. And their worst-case scenario says the price of oil is headed to $200 in 2030 — on average. That would mean peaks in the $300 range. If there's one thing we know about oil prices, it's that they will not stay average for the next 20 years. There will be storms. And right now, the oil market thinks there will be a storm just as soon as this recession ends.

It's time to do something, and it's possible. Waxman's cap-trade bill says it's about "Security"—that's the S in it's cute name, ACES. But read it and you will see he means climate security, not energy security. To bad it's not about energy security. It's not hard to make the two work together. And if they did, there would be a lot more support for both. My book, Carbonomics, explains how to do that. Read it free on Google.