✴️✴️✴️ If you think everything’s fine, think again. This is the revenge of oil—don’t mess with its market. Three points from the NYT: 🟥 Rising Energy Bills: The economic news was grim last week. Government data revealed something millions of Americans have known for months: Rising energy costs, largely driven by the war with Iran, have pushed prices up all over. Wages are flat. And nearly half of Americans are having trouble paying for basic needs right now. 🟥 Hot Summer and Inability to Pay: The climate news hasn’t been much better. It was the hottest summer on record in the United States, hotter than the Dust Bowl summer of 1936. Over the past few months, Americans ran a lot of air-conditioning to keep themselves cool — and, in some places, to keep themselves alive. Now about one in six U.S. households is behind on utility bills, according to federal data. 🟥 The Disconnection: Some hot-weather states have laws to prevent utility companies from shutting off someone’s electricity during the most dangerous heat. But then comes fall, and the disconnections begin to mount. It’s when, Eli Saslow reports, “a climate crisis turns into a collection notice.” Link: nytimes.com/2026/10/18/us/ok…