Take it from a Texan: Hurricanes are a part of living along the U.S. Gulf Coast. When they make landfall in our more populated areas, all manner of hardship transpires for individuals and industries alike. However, the energy industry is well prepared to handle big storms, which should answer some of the questions about why oil prices continue to drop. Barring a Category 5 catastrophe, the industry has its process in place: close up shop, evacuate the Gulf, let the storm pass, then return and get things moving.

That’s why it never ceases to amaze me how the media pundits can lump lower-impact hurricanes – and even tropical storms – into the factors driving the price of oil. Ike was certainly a major storm, and yet the oil price dropped in its wake. Perhaps Wall Street is finally giving industry more credit than the media. October’s cover story, “Hype Me Once, Shame on You,” looks at the odd relationship between the media and oil prices.

This month, we also take a look at one of the federal government’s more established departments. The Department of Energy was founded three decades ago to reduce the country’s reliance on imported oil. One needs only to look at our current import numbers to agree that the department has fallen significantly short of that mandate. Erika-Marie S. Geiss and I review the DOE’s history and its current status.

Erika also was on hand at the Democratic National Convention in Denver and brings us a field report. She heard a lot of “green” proposals and much optimism for restoring America’s manufacturing base. But where does rhetoric end and reality begin? Robert Rapier similarly assesses the chasm of reality between the congressional mandate for ethanol use and the waning demand for gasoline. Steve Huey casts his vote for the one candidate who seems to have a realistic grasp on energy issues. And Cyril Widdershoven reminds us that Iran’s newly developed nuclear capabilities have Westerners talking about sanctions and blockades – a tactic that could backfire dramatically.

October’s spotlights on North America and Africa highlight government scandal, new alliances and one nation’s decision to return to Sudan, a nation still under U.S. economic sanctions.

A wildly fluctuating stock market and early autumn’s drop in oil prices are tailor-made big-news events for the media’s hungry newshounds. Once the hurricanes have blown through town, what manufactured crisis will be next to encourage consumers to vent at “greedy Big Oil”?

Richard R. Loomis
Editor-in-Chief