"Professor Goose" from The Oil Drum -- definitely one of the best places on the web to visit for information on the ongoing energy transformation -- writes to tell us that The Oil Drum is keeping an updated page for the impact of Rita on the Gulf Coast oil sites. The page includes updated maps comparing the hurricane path and oil infrastructure sites, damage models, and of course updates on the course of the storm.
Spikes in oil prices have pushed more American drivers into high-mileage vehicles, and that's a good thing. But some of the scenarios that come from a rapid decline in oil availability aren't so appealing: drilling off California and Florida beaches; boost in coal production for liquified coal; and, of course, the kind of greater economic instability that tends to lead political figures to avoid thinking about long-term consequences in order to avoid short-term political pain.