Blatant Warnings Will Go Unnoticed

A headline from this morning's MSN.com homepage got my attention:

Dean weakens over Mexico, eyes oil fields

Winds drop to 85 mph after hitting coast, but storm could grow again

Associated Press

FELIPE CARRILLO PUERTO, Mexico - Hurricane Dean slammed into the Caribbean coast of Mexico on Tuesday as a roaring Category 5 hurricane, the most intense Atlantic storm to make landfall in two decades. It lashed remote Mayan villages as it raced across the Yucatan Peninsula to the heart of Mexico’s oil industry.

Nuclear plant hit by storm
By 1 p.m. ET, Dean had weakened to a Category 1 hurricane with winds of 85 mph. It was about 45 miles southeast of Campeche and was moving west at 18 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Dean’s path takes it directly through the Cantarell oil field, Mexico’s most productive, with dozens of oil rigs and three major ports. All were shut down just ahead of the storm, resulting in a production loss of 2.7 million barrels of oil and 2.6 billion cubic feet of natural gas a day. The path also veers toward Mexico’s only nuclear plant, where a state official said 2,000 buses were brought in to evacuate personnel if necessary.

The Laguna Verde nuclear plant, which is more than 20 years old and has endured other severe weather with no problems, implemented emergency procedures and remains online, said Estefano Conde, spokesman for Mexico’s Federal Electricity Commission. “I can assure you that everything is well taken care of,” he said.

Therefore, even though Hurricane Dean might not ever touch the nuclear power plant or the oil fields, expect your energy bills to increase this fall, probably exponentially more than normal with winter weather.

Since we have control of all that Iraqi oil, why aren't our energy costs going down? I know it's been asked before, but does anyone have an answer?