As a student one thing that is always on my mind is money. I never feel like I have as much as I would like. The whole reason I’m going to school is to increase my future earnings. Now one thing that has taken a toll on my budget for the past couple of years is gas prices.
The price of crude oil has hit an all-time high for the fifth time in six trading sessions. The high oil price is making gas and energy costs more expensive around the world, putting a financial strain on businesses and household budgets. This means that the American public is now spending more of their annual incomes to keep their vehicles on the road. At the current trend the price for gas will soon reach four dollars a gallon.
But these strains are not going to just be felt at the gas pumps. Most of all goods that are bought in the United States are shipped by truck. To compensate the trucking industry for the higher price of diesel, the price of goods are going to climb. As a student that spends a good deal of money on education I’m not pleased by this fact. I have been increasingly interested in finding ways to off-set this hit to my pocketbook.
With this gas price increase I have been very tempted to find a cheaper mode of transportation. I have been looking at everything from a hybrid car that gets better gas mileage to even bicycles. But living in a city that does not have a great public transportation system, and a sprawling landscape I find it necessary to have a vehicle.
There are two solutions that could solve our gas dependency problem. First the American people need to demand cars with better gas economy. It is a fact that American car manufactures cannot sell cars in foreign markets because their gas mileage is not up to foreign standards. Even in China, their mileage standards are twice what they are in the United States. Second, we need to use the technology that has already been developed. BMW produced a car that ran on water, but the idea never caught on because there is no money in water.
I also have an “American” attitude, being that I love my car. It is fast and loud and I don’t want to ride a bike all the time. I realize that I am being hypocritical because I'm suggesting that we need to make a change but I’m almost not willing to change myself. But I find this attribute to be in many of the people I talk to about this issue. So until people are ready to change maybe we shouldn’t talk about this subject anymore.
Mike Wilcox
1 comment:
Mike, I am advocating an idea right now that offers hope for our economy, our environment, and our national security. The book "Energy Victory" by Robert Zubrin calls for legislation to require all new gas-engined cars sold in our country to run on any blend of gasoline and alcohol (both ethanol and methanol). By doing this over a three-year period we would introduce true market economics into the vehicle fuels market and provide OPEC with a viable competitor.
You'll find people willing to argue that there's no carbon climate crisis, that the high cost of gas will force us to change our lifestyles, or that it's all a conspriracy by Haliburton and the VP. But few people will argue that we don't need to do something, and moving from a petroleum-based vehicle fuel infrastructure to one based on alcohol is a significant change that we can implement NOW.
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