but I'm glad gas prices are going up. I'm probably the only one. Don't get me wrong, it hits my wallet too and I always dread the sight of dollars ticking off on the pump that could be used to buy a house. But I'm glad. It's the only way to convince people that the current situation is untenable. If it costs you $100 or more to fill up your car, you'd better have a good reason. Unless you're a contractor or a construction worker or otherwise regularly haul large loads of heavy objects, you don't need an F350. Hell, most people don't need an F150. And unless you have 16 tricycle motors (which is 16 too many anyway), you don't need a Suburban or a decked out van with DVD players. I cringe when I think of all the resources wasted on muscle cars and raised trucks. And that's just today. How many years of gas have been pumped into the air over the years that was totally and completely unnecessary?
The next person that complains to me about $4 gas while holding a Starbucks cup in one hand, bottled water in the other, and wearing $200 Timberland boots is going to get a royal fucking beat down and a vociferous tongue lashing. You're willing to shill out $4 or more for a cup of joe, buy water (fucking water!) for $2 when it comes out of the tap practically free, and throw down a day or two worth of income for a pair of shoes and you want to complain about gas? Get real. Better yet, get bent. This is the same kind of logic that tells Washington they can run a $4 trillion dollar debt, a $1 trillion dollar war, and $600 billion in trade deficits and STILL cut taxes.
Let's be blunt: it's our own fault gas prices are high. In the 70's and 80's, we could blame it on the Saudi's and get away with it. Now we have no one left to point to. Here are just a few reasons: unrealistic oil and gas subsidies for the energy companies, completely wasteful behavior on the part of consumers, designing cities and places of business around personal transport instead of public transport, refusing to increase fuel economy standards for decades at a time, and creating political situations that cut into supplies (i.e. fucking with suppliers in the Middle East, Africa, and Central America). So it's time to stop playing the victim and decide how to deal with the situation. Lawsuits, windfall taxes, increasing production, and asking nicely are not acceptable answers. Corn-based ethanol, corn-based methanol, and hydrogen are also unacceptable. I suggest starting by taking on some of the problems above- in this case, addressing the roots of the problem instead of slapping bandages on it.
Let's be clear about one other thing: we're not even paying the true cost of our gas. The price of gas doesn't include the costs of environmental decimation, environmental remediation, long term effects of pollution from both mining and consumption, or the millions of human and animal lives lost to searching, mining, and warring for it.
So don't come bitching to me about high gas prices. Especially if you can still afford gas. The wealthy and middle class are still filling up their Suburbans, RVs, or "personal water craft" (the popular but retarded euphemism for jet skis). The people at the bottom of the ladder are the ones that at least some claim to a right to complain. The rest of you enjoy your Starbucks. I'm off to read the court decision today legalizing gay marriage in CA. It's about time at least one court pulled its head out of its ass. I just have to figure out why the vote was 4-3. What the hell is wrong with the three people that voted no? I'll have more to say after I've boned up (pun definitely intended) on the case. Cheers!
5 comments:
Well if they're complaining about petrol prices there they should come here - it costs just over $8 a gallon (US) here. Our gallons are different so its actually $10 a gallon (UK). They tax the hell out of us for petrol... so it costs Dave close to $100 to fill up his car, which is a 1.8 litre engine
I think they should have done something a LONG time ago to greatly reduce the amount of gas being used...they should have made all the lanes on the freeways carpool lanes except the right-hand one. That would have forced people to take carpooling seriously.
- Nell's dad
Right on, although I didn't expect anything less from an atmospheric scientist.
- Mike Rosander
The only reason I can even afford to own an SUV (don't start, I should know better) is by not driving it. I use a bicycle to get around just about everywhere, so I'll fill up once every 3-6 weeks depending upon what I'm doing. I've yet to fill up at over $4, since it's been a few weeks since my tank was low. I'll likely have to bite the bullet this weekend.
When I finish grad school and head out somewhere else I plan to keep my biking habit. I would gladly commute 20-30 miles each way by bike anyway. Perhaps I've picked up one good habit in my time
I miss biking to work. It was a good workout and saved on the gas bill. It's harder to do here because there aren't any paths to the university, and I'm not down with riding on the highway, given that people here drive just as poorly as in California. Although I'd have to say they are slightly friendlier when changing lanes.
I'm no saint either. I definitely drive more than is necessary. And sometimes you just have to. I just don't want to have to hear about it. It seems like there are much more overpriced things that people don't bat an eye at. Gas just seems to become the scapegoat. Mostly, I think, because it directly affects their habits. People don't like to change, and having to find other means of transport is a big change.
Post a Comment