Does global peak oil sound the death knell of the SUV?

Today’s news that auto giant GM is shutting down four pickup truck and SUV factories thanks to spiraling gas prices will likely be seen as such by many global peak oil theory advocates.

Bill Bonner goes into further detail on the relationship between oil prices and a strange phenomenon gripping the US… Americans are driving less.

China Quake Death Toll Could Hit 50,000; Initial Jobless Claims Edge Higher; CBS to Acquire CNet; GM Strikes Deal with Union; Fed Chair Urges Banks to Raise Capital; Industrial Output Sinks Led by Auto Industry; Profit Falls, Stocks Rise for Penney’s; Multi-Billion Housing Rescue Package Close to Resolution.

Exxon Mobil’s Profit Geyser; General Motors Cleans Up Its Act; Home Depot Boards Up 15 Stores; New $60 Billion City in U.A.E. Planned; Wheat Hits Five-Month Low; Brit Firm’s Silicone Valley Buy; Burger King’s “Whopper” Quarter; PharmaNet Plunges on Canceled Contracts.

As commodity markets become more mainstream for investors its interesting to know that energy and food shortages may very well come hand in hand. Here is a recent column that my collegue Kevin Kerr wrote for Outstanding Investments, it sheds a little bit of light on the situation.