Opec and I

OPEC and I

The last time I drove by the local CITGO, the cheapest gas in town most of the time, the sign read $3.85 for Basic. Diesel was at a whopping $4.15 a gallon. When I was ten years old I left Tampa for Alabama and gas was at a high of $1.12 a gallon. So in a period of almost 12 years gas has almost quadrupled in price. Over this past Memorial Day weekend travel on U.S. highways fell almost 5%, or 11 billion fewer miles, the most since the 1940s.

The United States, as well as most of the rest of the world, has pleaded and begged to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to lower the price of crude oil. Saudi Arabia, who is a true ‘ally’ of the United States and a dominant OPEC member, has done nothing but laugh off our plea. At us, the country that supplies them with weapons, crude materials, and best of all, military might. So they can’t even discuss lowering crude oil to $100 a barrel again? Believe me when I say I understand the problem isn’t just with Saudi Arabia. I understand the economics of supply and demand and the fact that Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez hates the U.S. and what we stand for. There is no real use complaining to them though.

What we need to do is something drastic. Let’s start looking for an alternative fuel that works and is inexpensive. Hydrogen, BioMASS/fuel, compressed air have all been proven to work in place of fossil fuels, and compressed air is even supposed to be 10 times cheaper than oil. All we need is to research and develop the technology and in ten years fossil fuels might not even be a necessity. The only big problem then will be the switchover.

What will we do with the millions and millions of cars around the world that won’t take this new alternative fuel source? Sure, we can use a lot of the parts for recycling and making more cars, but what about the old engines? Are we to scrap them all, bury them, and start over? What about us poor people that aren’t going to be able to afford the new $30,000 biofuel wonder? How will Aunt Clara buy her groceries when the rich are driving the efficient new air cars and she’s paying for $7 a gallon still? All we can do is wait and see what happens…

-Eight