This week we have oil industry spokespeople and “experts” tilling the soil, prepping the American public for $5 a gallon gas as soon as 2012 – and certainly in the next few years. Is peak oil upon us or has the oil industry cynically decided to take the next step in price gouging and supply manipulation in an effort to send us hurtling back to the gas lines of the 1970′s?

Though the BP oil spill knocked the oil industry for a loop and low oil demand due to a weak global economy have kept prices real short-term, things are about to change. $100 a barrel oil is fast approaching and the foot soldiers of big oil are mobilizing. The GOP and the Tea Baggers are about to embark on a massive deregulation blitz in an attempt to gut environmental regs and alternative energy projects under the guise of “smaller government,” don’t get hustled.

It’s all about protecting corporate profits and manipulating populist sentiments during bad economic times to get us to work against our own best interests. Wise-up and hunker-down, the energy battle is just beginning. In any case, we better get our oil-centric lifestyle under control. Time to drive more energy-efficient vehicles, buy a bike, take that stay-cation, walk off a few pounds and keep things local.