After a decade’s bonanza, the Saudis found their cartel losing its power; its soaring prices had shrunk demand.
—William Safire, January 1986
Importance: Pundits still claim "pricing carbon" is too weak. But OPEC's "policy" was purely a pricing policy—and it was vastly stronger than any before or since.
OPEC's high prices from 1973–85: • Saved over 8 years worth of total world oil use. • Caused about 10 times more conservation than supply increase. • Still have a major impact on US and world energy use. • Curbed oil use so much it crushed OPEC's power for 18 years.
