Gas Prices

The price of gas, which has been on the rise for sometime now, has recently surged even higher since the mass destruction brought on by Hurricane Katrina (Wong). In her efforts to perpetuate the high cost of gas, Katrina has prompted operators to close more than a tenth of the country's refining capacity and a quarter of its oil production which in turn has had a great deal to do with the steady climbing of gas prices. This has exacerbated a growing problem that has been forever looming in the shadows: the inevitable extinction of natural gas.

At this time, the nation and most parts of the world are heavily dependent upon the earth's natural gas and are desperately trying to get the previously closed oil refineries up and running again (Wong). However, doing this takes much needed time and money: two things that are growing shorter by the minute. It is up to the government to decide where we should go from here and whether or not to continue down this seemingly rocky road. Our first concern would be cost, which one would hope to be cheap; unfortunately, that is not always the case.

People possess many diverse opinions relative to recent gas prices and methods of transportation. Those who believe that current prices are reasonable argue that the prices are a "bargain" because they change according to "inflation and rising real income," and that opposition to the existing situation is useless and it would be ignorant to give in to the "illusory high price of gas" (Perry). Also, many claim that simply cutting back on our vehicle usage and using alternate methods of transportation such as: walking, riding the bus, bicycling, or taking the subway would help. This may appear to be an easy, logical solution for many people, but these options are not always available, particularly to those who live in rural areas. The people living in rural areas face many obstacles when it comes to transportation. For many, their automobiles are their only way to commute from place to place; consequently, gas prices play a major role in their lives. Studies show that rural households spend five percent of their total income on gasoline alone. In comparison, urban families will only spend three percent (Rowley). Thomas D. Rowley also refers to this as "gas pains." These are the people who are having to face many hardships due to the soaring cost of gas. It is our nation's people who are suffering because of the lack of alternative fuel options and transportation. We owe it to our nation's citizens, our world's people, to find a cheaper, convenient, and more efficient means of transportation that can be satisfactory to all who are concerned.

This problem needs to be thoroughly examined for many reasons. First of all, citizens of rural areas not only have limited transportation methods, they are also affected more extensively by the high gas costs. They lack what big industrious cities or urban areas are over-run with. Subways, mass transit, and buses are not available to them; consequently, they must pay out hundreds of dollars on gas which could have easily been used to feed their families. Then again, if they were to do that, how would they get to work to make what money actually does to toward their gas money? Secondly, if we were to address that portion of the problem and subways, trains, and buses became prevalent in rural regions, we would still have to face the inevitable fact that we will eventually consume all of the Earth's natural gas...then what? Many of the alternative transportation methods opponents say to use run on gasoline; therefore, this is not a fail-safe solution to our problem. It also would not satisfy all parties concerned with this subject. This is why we, not as a city, not as a region, and not as a nation, but as a continent need to focus our all on finding an alternative fuel source, despite the fact that the government has showed little interest in doing so.

"Last month President Bush signed a new energy bill that gave $14.5 billion in tax breaks to corporations while ignoring the dire need to fund projects that will search for alternative fuel sources" (Hornet Staff). Don't the people of this nation also deserve tax breaks? Let us not only give them that, but let's give them a fuel source they will never have to doubt and they will never have to worry about running short of. If we can achieve this task we could help people all across the world. The United States is not the only nation who is currently relying on the unknown amount of natural gas. By aiding other countries in finding different sources of fuel, we could possibly gain more future allies in the process; for they would be indebted to us and to the help we gave them. "Motorists in the United Kingdom are now paying six dollars a gallon. If lawmakers are serious about helping motorists at the pump, they should turn their sights to these two genuine solutions but ultimately to helping the state reduce its gas consumption by investing more in alternatives" ("Editorial").

Ohio University currently has heavy machinery and vehicles running solely on cooking oil. This method of fuel provided a clean power source. Naturally, with all new projects, there are some drawbacks, like not starting in harsh weather conditions, but they could easily be solved if we only rook the time to examine them. Both parties agree that we must have transportation, so it would be wrong to think that we could not find a method to please all. A recent study has proven that Ethanol, produced from sugarcane, can be a source of fuel. The Philippines have now approved a Bio-Ethanol Bill. Ethanol contains roughly 77,000 BTUS of energy, which is more than enough according to the American Coalition for Ethanol ("Gas"). In August of 2005 CNN declared "Consumers can expect retail gas prices to rise to $4 a gallon soon" (Wong). Even if we can hold out through the questionable cost of gasoline, gasoline cannot hold out for us. If we can afford to fund projects that spend billions of dollars searching for cures to things that afflict us such as, AIDS, diabetes, and cancer, can we not also take the much needed time to find the cure for something that is not eternally promised, something that we are so heavily dependent upon, something we cannot survive without: an endless means of transportation.