Newsfeed
Printer-Friendly ModeGas-guzzling nation at fault
September 12, 2005 —
A week or so ago, I was at the gas station, cringing, over paying $3.39 a gallon for 87 octane. The guy at the pump next to me made some comments about the gouging of prices by oil companies, and how fat cats in the desert (I believe he meant the Middle East) were getting rich off us. For the most part I agreed with him, until he got back in his vehicle and drove off. I then laughed at the asininity of the situation as he was pulling out.
What made me laugh about our encounter? It was not anything he said, he made convincing points that I tended to side with. It was just that he undercut his entire argument by pulling out in a one ton Chevy pickup, a vehicle that tends to get around 13 miles per gallon.
That is the basic problem regarding high gasoline prices - people whine and complain about the price of filling up, but no one takes any action to alleviate the problem. The oil companies know that unless they act too impudently toward consumers, people are going to keep fueling up at the same rates.
And what about the guy driving the truck? As far as I could tell, it had never been used "like a truck" - that is, used to haul loads of cargo or even pull a trailer. Trucks that are used for work, as opposed to being energy-depleting transporters, typically do not have running boards and other accessories used to doll up their appearance.
A local news station often begins its broadcasts with a segment that laments the high price of gasoline. But outside of consumers (and transportation businesses), who cares about high gas prices? Certainly not the multinational oil companies, who are raking in record profits at our expense. And our cries of outrage over "high" gas prices probably fall on deaf ears in Europe, where in Amsterdam, you can wash down your hash brownie with a $7.10 gallon of gas.
Environmental concerns aside, our unquenchable thirst for oil is leaving us beholden to the whims of the Middle East. We are fast becoming a nation of proverbial crack whores, willing to take the beatings of our pimps (the Middle East) in exchange for ephemeral fixes that inevitably leads us to demand more. The United States should be responsible only to its citizens' demands, not to the demands of reactionary nations that vilify us as the Great Satan.
There are people who simply do not care about inefficient gas-guzzling vehicles, believing that luxury and convenience are hallmarks of American progress, and somehow definitive of our national character. But you know, I am tired of funding a corrupt oil sheik's new palace, or ensuring that the despotic reign of Saudi Arabia's theocratic government stays in power.
To every egomaniacal businessman who buys a Hummer to compensate for his own lack of self-confidence: you are helping to fund the Iranian nuclear program, already in progress toward further de-stabilization of the Middle East.
To every student living on campus who feels it is necessary to drive the quarter-mile to a closer parking spot: not only are you needlessly wasting oil, you are a poster-child for why two-thirds of the nation is overweight.
At least there are a few alternatives which soothe the conscience on a somewhat primitive level.
Citgo gas comes 100 percent from the democratic South American nation of Venezuela, where profits are not funneled back to fuel a holy war in the Middle East, but rather to improve the lives of Venezuelans living in poverty. You can also buy a hybrid car, which (with the exception of Ford's hybrid Escape SUV) primarily come from Asia. Beginning in January 2006, purchasing a hybrid can get you a federal tax credit of a couple thousand dollars, which effectively ends the price difference between hybrids and standard cars.
I am not advocating that everyone should go about and buy a little Honda or Toyota to get excellent gas mileage. But instead of driving the Chevy Suburban (estimated gas mileage 13 city/17 highway), why not drive the Chevy Uplander (estimated gas mileage 18 city/24 highway) which can carry just as many people as the Suburban?
Many political commentators point to the rise of a sink-or-swim economy in the United States as the reason for high gas prices. But we do not have to be hurricane victims to drown; unless we change our driving habits, we will surely perish under the oil we cherish so much.