When my friends start complaining about the high gas prices I respond, “It’s about time!” They then look at me with confused disgust long enough for an explanation. There is a bright side to these ridiculous petrol prices. As my biology teacher, Dr. Lishak, explained freshman year, the rise in gas prices pressures people to conserve for once. But more importantly it pressures car companies to consider fuel efficiency and emphasizes the importance of renewable fuel in the back of everyone’s mind.
Whenever I get down about my gas-guzzler, I visit car dealerships and peruse the vehicles I might purchase “one day”. My favorite? The Prius, of course. But I have a second favorite that is becoming quite popular - the Ford Focus. I call it my affordable dream car and others are obviously thinking the same. When I visited the Ford dealership a few weeks ago one of the salesmen spotted my starry eyes and approached me. He divulged that droves of people have been trading in their SUVs and trucks for this miniature and more efficient vehicle. Oh how I become ecstatic when people see the light and make a conscious decision!
I also can’t help but smile when car manufacturers produce hybrid models of SUVs and trucks, because not everyone is open to the idea of a smaller car.
Confession: I used to be an SUV brat. The only cars I’ve owned have been the like. But recently I realized it is in the best interest of the environment, our economy and my checking account that my next vehicle be a smaller and more efficient model.
I’m not going to lie; oftentimes I view people who repeatedly invest in gas-guzzlers as selfish. It’s wrong of me, but at least I’m aware of my prejudice.
When we know there is a gas shortage and we know that every gallon we pump funds the “enemy”, shouldn’t we try to limit our consumption? We are fueling terrorists’ regimes with every fill-up, simultaneously destroying our one and only planet. Knowing this, I have a conviction to reduce my consumption of this drug.
How do you do it? When you pay an ungodly amount per fill-up other options seem more appealing than ever before. In some situations alternative forms of transportation are a must. I take the Tiger Transit to and from school, carpool whenever I can and walk to work. Bikes are a fun alternative form of transportation and I have noticed an influx of motorbikes on and around campus. Seriously folks. Try walking anywhere within a comfortable distance – my rule is around three miles (depending on the weather). You’ll discover trees and creeks along a route you never knew existed. You’ll feel refreshed and take pride in your stewardship. We can all do our bit to ease this crisis and its affect on our country, economy and pocketbook.
But it goes beyond reducing your personal consumption of petroleum. I charge you all to research offshore drilling and what effects it could have on the coast of Florida as well as the reserves in Alaska. Perhaps unscathed natural buffers along the Gulf Coast could have limited Katrina’s devastation. I’m no scientist; I just think you should weigh the risks and benefits yourself then fight for that belief. My personal opinion (along with others) is that more drilling will not lower prices or demand. Think about it; you wouldn’t give an addict their drug of choice
Gas Prices, A Nightmare; Offshore Drilling, A Night Terror
By branyba - Posted on June 24th, 2008
Tagged: gas prices
• gasoline
• offshore drilling
• oil issues
• oil supply
• Broad prosperity
• Shared responsibility
• Effective government
• Better future
It is a pretty cheap debating tactic to make a totally unsupported claim that the oil and gas industry had anything to do with the Katrina disaster. I'd like to see some links to sources.
Katrina was a problem mainly because some idiots decided to build New Orleans below sea level. It was a disaster that was waiting to happen. It probably happened sooner because Louisiana and particularly New Orleans politicians are notoriously corrupt and a lot of the money that was intended to improve levees made it into their pockets instead. And it probably happened sooner because the Mississippi has been artificially constr4ained to its route through New Orleans when if left to its own devices, it would have re-routed itself long ago. It had nothing to do with the oil and gas industry.
In fact two major hurricanes (Katrna and Rita) hit the Gulf that same year and wreaked havoc on the offshore oil and gas industry. Drilling and production platforms were knocked completely off their moorings and washed them hundreds of miles. I think quite a few of them them were never found and quite a few others were completely destroyed.
AND VERY LITTLE OIL WAS SPILLED. The lost oil was trivial. It amounted to about 17,000 barrels. And it caused no significant environmental problems. By comparison, Exxon Valdez was about 257,000 barrels and almost twice that much oil seeps naturally into the Gulf of Mexico annually.
Scientists Find That Tons Of Oil Seep Into The Gulf Of Mexico Each Year
The offshore oil and gas industry has greatly improved their technology and it has been decades since there has been a notable spill. One of the largest offshore fields in the world is in the North Sea of the Atlantic. It is one of the roughest and harshest seas in the world and they have been operating there for two decades without serious much in the way of mishaps. There largest spill was in 1977 (30 years ago) and was about 75,000 bbls. By comparison, Exxon Valdez was about 257,000 barrels.
Most oil and gas production facilities which are producing off the Texas and Louisiana coasts in the gulf are shipping their oil and gas to shore by pipeline. These pipes are more inherently safe then oil tankers. Oil tankers periodically sink or wreck or have accidents while loading or unloading oil and create environmental havoc. The last big spill (not too huge) in the North Sea was a tanker loading accident.
Our economy runs on oil and while I agree with your thesis that higher prices will cause greater conservation, nothing will change our huge demand for oil in the short or medium terms. It is going to take decades to re-tool our economy. During that period, our choice is to produce domestic oil that does not send money to our enemies and which can be transported safely in pipes, or import even more oil in environmentally unsound tankers. We will probably end up doing quite a lot of both because we will need the oil.
thanks for your tasteful response. i just said it could have been an issue with katrina. but thank you for putting words in my mouth :) and we've done this to ourselves...
Power to the people,
Brittany
o