So, how much did you pay for a gallon of gas this weekend? Where I live, the prices actually went down from a weekly high of $3.37 to $3.21 as we went into the long weekend.
It has been threatened by pundits that gas could go to $4 or $5 a gallon easily and of course that draws the droning whine of people who complain and complain and complain and will not do anything about it. Actually, there is nothing they can do.
How much will you pay for a gallon of gas? How much they tell you you will pay. Pure, plain, and simple.
I don't mean to sound pessimistic or fatalist, but they control our lives deeply and they have no incentive to change. Why would they? Think about it, if you found a way to make billions, do you want to find away to lower those profits? I didn't think so.
What are we going to do?
Nothing.
That was easy.
Seriously, you going to take the bus and sit next to the homeless guy who has not bathed or brushed his teeth in about a year or so and is too caught up with some conversation only he can here. Also, it is just too inconvenient to take the bus or train. Unless you live in a city that life is based around public transportation, it is simply too inconvenient and if you live in a town without it, well, you really have no choice.
There is absolutely no incentive for the big companies to do anything to lower the prices. Yes, I know, petroleum is traded as a commodity and the prices are set by supply and demand and this is true, to a point. Bringing refineries off line for regular maintenance and repairs at the start of the summer season was made to seem just like bad timing. These refineries and pipe-lines could have been worked on regularly over the past several years and yet they weren't. The Katrina excuse is old and weathered. There have been hurricanes in the Gulf before.
I think it is common knowledge that the quoted daily price for a barrel of crude is the spot-price. The companies do not pay that for oil. They have contracted prices that they pay which is far less than the spot-price. Think about this, if the price for a new barrel of oil is, say, $65, then why is the gas that is already produced and sitting in a tank so expensive? That is where a little bit of gouging takes place. The same happens with any commodity. If the price of corn skyrocketted, then the price of those ears in the grocery store will in turn rise.
People whine all day about it and it never stops. People who pay $80 or more to fill up their humongous trucks or SUVs have no right to gripe. When you sign that line for purchasing the vehicle, you knew what you were getting into.
How about replacing petroleum? OK, with what? All this talk about plant and vegetable based fuels is fine and a step in the right direction, but if demand is so high, how are we going to keep up with the demand with plant based fuels? Thats a lot of farming! Hybrids may say you money at the pump, but will really do nothing to lower prices. In fact just the opposite is true here. The more gas they can keep, thats more money for them in the future. The only way to lower prices at all is to completely replace it, but that is not going to happen in my lifetime or my kids or their kids. Move along now.
I don't want to keep beating a dead horse, as we all more or less know this as gospel by now that Iraq was all about oil. If it is not, can someone please tell me why maps of Iraqi oil fields were part of those energy task force meetings that Cheney led? (PS, I grew up in that backwater podunk known as Wyoming when he was a representative there. The man is evil!)
