Rising Oil Prices what Lies Ahead
Rumor has it that gas prices in the United States will average $5.00 per gallon by summer's end and further increase to $6.00 by the beginning of 2009. Whether or not this is heresay or in fact a stark reality remains to be seen. Either way you look at it, this is not good news. Those of us in this nation enjoyed relatively low fuel prices for decades, and now it would seem that the party is over. We're getting the first taste of what our friends in Europe have had to deal with for quite some time.
Is our worldwide supply of oil dwindling? I for one find it very difficult to concur with this assumption. In one of my first articles ever published on Helium, I described what I learned as a schoolboy back in the late 1960's. I was in 5th grade and vividly remember reading a passage out of my science textbook. Granted, the book itself was probably written around the time Sputnik was launched and therefore already ten years out of date at that time, but nevertheless it stated that there was enough crude oil in this country alone to last five billion years. There's no question that there are considerably more vehicles on the road today than there were back in 1968, but for one to believe that we managed to deplete 4,999,999,960 years' worth of crude in just four decades is a bit of a stretch. Instead, what it comes down to is a combination of two factors.
As long as there are greedy oil companies out there willing to squeeze every penny they can out of John Q Public, nothing will change save for the price of gas creeping ever northward. We've been there before. Back in 1974, we experienced the infamous Arab Oil Embargo, which led to the belief that shortages were iminent. The "shortage" mysteriously came to an end when gas reached a then-unprecedented $1.00 a gallon.
Secondly, we are downright lazy. Why drill for oil in Alaska or wherever the latest deposits have been found within our borders when it's simply easier to buy it from the Middle East? As long as the majority of oil companies based in the U.S. cling to this philosophy, you and I will pay dearly at the pump.
Then there are strategies to thwart these ever-rising prices, and I find none of them particularly appealing. I don't want to ride a bicycle. I'm almost 50. I get winded and develop cramps in my calves on the rare occasion I do ride a bike for, say, a half-mile. I don't like public transportation. Between not being able to smoke and being subjected to old people on the city bus describing a host of medical problems ranging from toenail fungus to bowel obstructions, it's not my thing. I suspect rail transport would render similar ramifications.
Some motor scooters get over 100 miles per gallon, but I live in a climate where they would only be useful for about three or four months out of a year. Who wants to putt along at 30 mph, anyway? Hybrid cars? That will save money for the time being, but only until you have to replace $4000 worth of batteries a few years later. Car-pooling? Again, only if the driver allows me to smoke; otherwise, I don't ride. Walking? I'd have to leave for work an hour and a half early and dress like an Antarctic research scientist while doing so eight months out of the year. Thanks, but no thanks.
The bottom line? Until our prestigious oil companies get off thier collective butts and drill in the homeland, sacrifices will have to be made. That vacation we take might have to be spent in a Motel 6 instead of the Hilton. Perhaps that back deck will suffice as is instead of extending it. We may have to eat at home more often. Movies we wish to see may have to wait until we can rent them at the video store for $3.00 instead of paying $9.00 to see them on the big screen. Instead of seeing our favorite band perform in concert, we can settle on buying a CD.
I for one am spoiled by driving. I enjoy the independence. I like being in control. Whatever the cost, I will adapt. It's who I am.
