Hello Everyone,
To begin I would like to address a favorite
I hear this one everyday, "Gas prices are too high, we should do something!"
Well your right we should do something, but as it turns out we (as in society) are not doing anything. You can go to site after site on the Internet and see how the prices are at an all time high, how the government is addressing price gouging, and/or how the consumer is truly being effected by the high prices. What you will not find is how we are taking responsibility for the prices nor how we are fighting it.
Seriously people, the oil manufacturer's made record breaking profits last year, and will undoubtedly do the same this year on the bases of a simple plan, "They need gas and we have it." I have to travel to and from work everyday; do you? I have to travel distances for meetings, family, and recreation; do you? We need gas period. So the powers that be did what everyone in business does, they followed the concept of supply and demand. Now the interesting part is that they are also in control of the supply and thus can effect the demand. They even tested the waters last summer by allowing gas prices to hang in the $2.20 to $2.50 range. Ya know what they found out? WE WILL PAY!! Yup we will pay whatever the prices are, no matter the price. That is one of the main reasons you will see gas prices raise this summer. They know that Americans are willing to complain about prices for gas, but will fill up their massive family movers every time.
To begin I would like to address a favorite
I hear this one everyday, "Gas prices are too high, we should do something!"
Well your right we should do something, but as it turns out we (as in society) are not doing anything. You can go to site after site on the Internet and see how the prices are at an all time high, how the government is addressing price gouging, and/or how the consumer is truly being effected by the high prices. What you will not find is how we are taking responsibility for the prices nor how we are fighting it.
Seriously people, the oil manufacturer's made record breaking profits last year, and will undoubtedly do the same this year on the bases of a simple plan, "They need gas and we have it." I have to travel to and from work everyday; do you? I have to travel distances for meetings, family, and recreation; do you? We need gas period. So the powers that be did what everyone in business does, they followed the concept of supply and demand. Now the interesting part is that they are also in control of the supply and thus can effect the demand. They even tested the waters last summer by allowing gas prices to hang in the $2.20 to $2.50 range. Ya know what they found out? WE WILL PAY!! Yup we will pay whatever the prices are, no matter the price. That is one of the main reasons you will see gas prices raise this summer. They know that Americans are willing to complain about prices for gas, but will fill up their massive family movers every time.
Knowing this I being to pose a very important question. Since we have demonstrated that we are willing to pay any price, as well as continue to drive gas guzzling vehicles, and have yet to curb our travel; I being to ponder "Why would the oil industry bring the price back down?" Think about it as a businessman/woman. Why would you go back to only making 10 to 20 billion dollars a year, when you can make the current 125 billion dollars (look it up) . I wouldn't and you all know you wouldn't so what make us think the gas prices are going to change. This is the reason I get frustrated when family and friends begin to talk about gas prices. They hate the fact that they have to pay so much, and then they go and fill up their huge Suburbans or Expeditions. I feel for them since I know it takes over a $100 dollars to fill them up and usually this is weekly. No they do not have the means to pay so much, and most of the people I know are not of means either. However, their lack of funding still does not deter them from changing their (or mine) gas use. And thus allows for larger revenue for the oil industry.
I remember a couple of weeks ago I received a email asking me not to buy gas on a giving day. I thought that was an interesting approach. However, I was on a business trip that day and remember sitting in my hotel as the email came flashing up on CNN, and they showed how everyone was still buying gas that day. I am sure those who did not purchase gas on that given day either bought gas the day before or after. My point is that we are all aware of the tiger in our living room, but instead of getting ride of the tiger we feed it so it doesn't consume us, and then complain about having to feed the tiger.
There are smarter men and women out there that can probably tell you how to fight this issue or how to live with it better than I. What I ask of you is when you complain about gas prices, or wonder why the prices are too high, or wonder why no one is doing anything; you take a deep breath and look in the mirror. There is the problem as well as the solution.
9 comments:
RAISE THE GAS PRICES!!! HIGHER!!!
There is some demand for alternatively fueled cars and the car companies are responding by making more hybrids and studying new technologies. But the gas prices need to be extremely high before extreme changes will be made. Gradual price changes will produce gradual economic changes. We gripe cause we know they are high but we adjust because it is not completely unbearable! IT HAS TO BE UNBEARABLE!! Higher gas prices = more use of different fueled cars = less money for the oil companies. LET THEM RAISE THEIR PRICES HIGHER!!! It has to go up before it can come down!
Yes I drive a Suburban and no I dont have the means to afford the gas for it. However, I also cannot downgrade my car because I owe too much on it. So I am left with no choice but to pay the gas prices. Can I scale down the use of gas? Yes, however when you have kids, and they have to be taken to and from school, to and from babysitters, to and from activities (church, etc.) and me to and from work, I don't have that much choice in the matter. At the time I bought my gas guzzling car, gas prices weren't this high and I did have the means to afford it. I am not contributing to the oil companies supply and demand. Like you say I don't have a choice because everyone needs gas. But I will continue to gripe about the prices because its still not fair. They were making enough of a profit at $2.50. This is a matter of being greedy and knowing they can get away it. So to your comment of feeling frustrated at people driving the gas guzzling cars by choice, some of us do not have a choice because we cant afford to get rid of the car. I know gas prices are slowly going to rise with the economy, but what frustrates me is when they rise gas .10 cents a day, everyday, for no reason. That's obsurd and clearly price gouging. Just because moms have to drive big cars to fit the family doesn't mean we should be taken advantage of.
I take the train. But I uphold the balance by using gas to fertilize my lawn.
When I think of those in the oil business I am reminded of saying I heard once before, it goes: "How much money is enough money? Answer, One Dollar More."
So with that in mind I have to respond to Julie in that I am sure the oil billionaires agree with you. Raising the gas prices now would in fact cause an outrage, but how much will it take? And in the mean time how much more money will the oil industry pocket? It is safe to say that by the time our fellow Americans react it will be too late. We may feel some sort of respite but I doubt that any reaction will cause the oil industry to notice, or much less care about the common man.
eliza
I hear and understand your plight. Many Americans bought into the bigger car crazy that took the nation by storm only 7 years ago. Now with rising gas costs, and most people still paying on their vehicles you and many like you are trapped. The cost of living has surpassed most of our pay checks due to rising fuel costs. What is sad is that most car and oil companies are in fact targeting you and your family by the activities and size you described. They are betting on the supply you need and then working the demand to benefit their needs. You are not alone.
Frank
Train is a good start, maybe we will see a regression in our technology and go back to steam?! As for you lawn what kind of gas are you talking about :)
Looks like it might be time for me to stop thinking about getting a bicycle and actually get one.
People pay the gas and drive the cars because they think they don't have a choice or a voice to really create change, so we all go along with it. What really has to happen is a major shift in the complacent attitude of the American people. It will take something MASSIVE for people to be outraged enough to "storm" Washington and contact thier representatives....when was the last time you wrote a letter to your congressman? I will be the first to admit I never have. Nothing changes because no one says anything loud enough, including me. Blogging is a start...so keep it up!
Perhaps we should push for better public transportation. I was listening to NPR yesterday and they calculated it would cost in the neighborhood of 270 dollars for a family of four to travel by car between Washington, D.C. and Boston. That is still cheaper than the plane, train, or bus.
We can't change our habits overnight (see Eliza's comment) but can cut down whenever possible. Use public transportation, get a bicycle, motor scooter or motorcycle (remember mopeds?). If everyone cuts down, the cumulative effect may be significant.
I for one welcome our new Oily Gods. Burn baby, burn. And if we really think about it, we get off pretty easy with gas prices. For a commodity so valuble that we are willing to go to war over it...it's nice to know I can still buy it for 3 dollars a gallon.
In the old days, it is true, we would just ride other animals or have them pull us around. There was no crises...unless you were a horse. How horribly cruel and torturous we as a people are.
At least now, we are ruining things for us and them.
Here's some interesting facts you may be unaware of. Many, many of the individual states have mandated that refineries blend special gasoline for usage in their respective states. These "mandates" are all based on faulty science to "protect the atmosphere" . This will drive the cost of gas up. Taxing for roadwork et al drives up the price . Now I must say this..America pays dearly for gasoline NOT because of greedy oil companys, but because of elected officials who have no knowledge of the oil industry or how it works !! DID YOU KNOW..what you pay at the pump is not really reflective of the cost of oil? You are putting Gasoline in your car ,not crude. The United States has not built A new refinery in decades! The reason being you have to find an "approved" location, do enviromental impact studies ,buy the "approved" equipment ,hire a balanced team of construction workers (men and women), waste millions and millions of dollars using lawyers to fill out THOUSANDS of forms and then you MAY be permitted to break ground..unless ,of course, someone finds an endangered snake or cricket..in which case you start the whole process again. The American refineries are growing older and can not keep up with demand..THATS why you pay more! In order to build NEW refineries AND keep the cost of gas down, LAWS must be changed to lower the cost of being allowed to build . Imagine what you'd pay for a gallon of gas if America had no refineries at all, and all gasoline had to come in on a tanker.
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