My partner and I went from Myrtle Beach to Savannah a couple of weeks ago. We got there on a tank of gas, but on the way back I had to fill up the tank again. At that time gas was still under four dollars, but it still cost me almost $50 to fill up the small tank in my Toyota Corolla. $50 for a Toyota Corolla? Is somebody kidding me! I didn't notice anybody around me smiling at that time, and now with the gas over $4 a gallon there's likely to be even less levity at the gas pumps. The people filling up their SUVs need laughing gas to get through the pain of paying for filling them with gas. But then again, they were free to buy more fuel-efficient cars in the first place. But this is America and everybody has a right to buy whatever they can afford. Unfortunately, when richer people decide to make choices that force us to import more oil everybody ends up paying for it.
How did we get to this place where we are dependent upon buying barrels of oil from countries that despise us and our way of life and are all too willing to gouge us out of our last dime? What about our "National Energy Policy?" Oh that, there isn't any. Well, with a president who was in the oil industry, and most of his oil buddies back in Texas run the state, and a vice president who worked for Halliburton, you surely didn't expect a national energy policy. Not that the Democrats have worked any harder at this. Big oil has big bucks and enough lobbyists to spread the wealth lavishly over each and every member of Congress. Hard to keep your mind on a national energy policy when you're sitting down to lunch with an oil lobbyist who is giving you a large check. Well some people are hard at work implementing alternative energy sources. T. Boone Pickens is spending billions of dollars on wind farms in West Texas. Unfortunately that will take a while to change the situation. Ultimately the Japanese will save us. Not intentionally, but rather by making alternative energy vehicles and forcing Detroit to follow suit. Everything will turn out okay, we hope. In the meantime, forget about all those cross-country trips.
2 comments:
The people filling up their SUVs need laughing gas to get through the pain of paying for filling them with gas. But then again, they were free to buy more fuel-efficient cars in the first place.
Yes they could have, and quite frankly, I believe they shoulder FAR more responsibility for gas prices than anyone else. They used and used without any thought as to the greater impact. They were entitled to do whatever they wanted and demand an explanation now that the results of their actions are clear. It's all about supply and demand, and we live in the U.S. were people make their demands in a bubble.
On the other hand, people have become more creative in finding a mode of travel. Bicyles are reappearing as well as mopeds. Some people actually walk to the corner store - we might just become fitter and healthier with high gas prices. Always the optimist!
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