Gratitude for Gas Pain? by Barbara Quinn

Gasoline is over $4 a gallon now. And while it may sound strange, I can find a little to be grateful for in this. The high price has caused us to focus on something we’ve been ignoring for many years: we need to change our spendthrift energy ways before the world runs out of oil. We need to conserve now while we have some time to develop alternative fuel sources.

Sure we can drill offshore and we can mine previously untapped gas fields. But it’s time to diversify. We are the largest consumer of oil. China is a growing economy and they are tapping the world’s supply of oil, the same supply that we are tapping. It’s way past time to work diligently on this problem.

The market is responding to the pain at the pump, and so is the public. I’ve seen articles about grassoline and Willie Nelson’s bio-diesel is becoming more popular. People are investigating wind power, wave power, solar power, and geothermal power. All of these begin looking less exorbitant and more attractive when the price of oil continues its march upward. People are biking and boating to work. I’m walking more and making sure to combine errands to minimize miles in my car. I read an article saying take out the 100 lb. golf clubs from the trunk for better gas mileage.( Gee..That means losing weight is another way to get better gas mileage.) There are fewer cars on the highway when I drive to the shore. And there are a lot of smaller automobiles.

Yes, there’s a down side to this. The price of food and milk is going through the roof because of the added expense of transportation. Anything that requires transport has gone up in price. People have less disposable income and still must pay for medicine and doctor bills, which makes life much more difficult for too many. I noticed even the dollar store is now charging $1.25 for their items. The cost of commuting has skyrocketed. With the public having less to spend, restaurants and entertainment venues are feeling the pain too. Sadly, volunteers can’t afford to drive to their volunteer jobs.

If we can put men in space and on the moon, surely we can solve this energy problem. Encourage your children to work on solutions now. And hey, it’s time to investigate the record profits being recorded by oil companies.

Meanwhile, I’m counting on that personal jet pack I read about the other day. If it gets good mileage, that sure would get me out of my Nissan!