atlantic

"What has translated into a change in price for oil and gas has simply been a result of the greed of the oil industry," says author and GRITtv oil correspondent, Antonia Juhasz of rising oil prices and pain at the pump. Antonia is the director of the Energy Program at Global Exchange, and author of the newly released book, Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill. With prices two times higher than they were when President Obama took office, and up 37% just this year, Americans are feeling an additional squeeze at the pumps. The White House's plan to reduce fuel costs may be a step in the right direction, says Antonia. However, as we continue to navigate issues like speculative trading and a lack of regulation in the Intercontinental Oil Exchange, true progress may be difficult. Is there a responsible way forward? And, more importantly, is the Obama administration ready to set us on that path? "People actually want to believe in heroes, so they'll believe in Glenn Beck, they'll believe in Barack Obama, they choose individuals to believe in but won't believe in politics itself," says Walter Mosley, author and activist. Obama may have been pressured into releasing his "long form" birth certificate this week, but that won't heal the hurt in our politics, Mosley says, until Americans stop trusting heroes and experts and start trusting each other. Mosley joins us for part one of a two-part conversation on his vision for a truly people-powered America. Finally, the media is more obsessed with the British royal wedding than the US people actually are, but why should we bother with British royals at all when we have our own royals right here? They're called corporations. Distributed by Tubemogul.