I’m not a Birkenstock-wearing environmentalist in a tie-dye T-shirt who thinks the world will go up in flames because we had some nice weather this winter, but enough is enough. The rise in gas prices has hit our pockets and has hit them hard.
In September 2003 the price of crude oil was $25 per barrel; by August 2005 it was $60 per barrel.
What would you do with $35? That’s two 30-packs or, at the very least, a bad lap dance in Bridgeport.
In 1980, the oil prices were at $90 a barrel, but 27 years ago Fairfield University President Fr. Jeffrey von Arx was not even a Jesuit (he became one in 1981).
We are living in a culture dictated by oil. From heating homes to driving cars, the monetary amount devoted to oil has inflated dramatically.
Too much of our money is going toward pumping gas when college students should be worrying about pumping kegs.
The largest spike in prices came after Hurricane Katrina, when it wiped out most of our oil tankers in the Gulf region and knocked out two major regional oil pipelines. Also contributing to the rise was a decrease in oil supplies due to ongoing violence in the Middle East.
Even though there has been an increase in oil prices, Americans continue to pump more and more into their large SUVs, creating an alarming problem. It is time for people to wake up and solve this problem.
If we continue to increase our demand for a finite product, what will happen when we run out?
The world passed ahead of us with the Kyoto Protocol, an agreement by nations to impose restrictions on emissions. The agreement was ratified by every national power except the U.S. Not backing Kyoto has caused the U.S. to fall behind in many ways.
American car companies can’t sell their cars in China because they don’t meet the Chinese emission standards. Even industrial powerhouses like China are more environmentally sound than the U.S.
The three major car manufacturers, Ford, GM and Chrysler, have focused on cars with lower fuel mileage and carbon emissions. Innovation has given way to hybrids.
Recent advertisements have shifted from the Chrysler Jeep climbing up the mountain to GM’s new saying “Live Green Go Yellow,” emphasizing cars that run on ethanol.
They should have seen this coming.
The gas price increase has had such an effect on the auto industry that it has hurt the Greater Detroit economy.
Major League Baseball did as much as it could when it chose to have the 2005 All-Star Game in Detroit. The National Football League also followed suit when it held the 2006 Super Bowl in the Motor City. Everyone is pitching in as if this were a humanitarian crisis effort, as they should be, because a raise in oil prices will hurt many different sectors of the market economy.
Politicians got in on the act as well. They receive pressure from their constituents who are wondering why $20 only gets half a tank of gas. Many countries have raised fuel taxes as an incentive to slow down the consumption of gas.
Many U.S. legislators have expressed the need to have oil conglomerates testify before Congress. The current administration has several connections to the oil industry: President Bush has ties to Enron, Vice President Dick Cheney served as former president of Halliburton and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had an oil tanker named after her when she worked with Chevron.
For years, the Bush administration has said it has no legal obligation to deal with toxic emissions. The Supreme Court thought otherwise last week when it ruled 5-4 against the administration’s policies.
Now, with a Democratic Congress and the Supreme Court pushing for change, Bush will need to rethink his policies to accommodate the global warming crisis.
If our nation doesn’t conform to the practices of other nations, we might be in serious economic, political and ecological trouble.
For me, I just want $20 of gas to actually be $20 worth of gas again.
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