Gasoline's Days Are Numbered

[LeftHander]

Photo: Lynn Radeka
http://www.radekaphotography.com/gaspump.htm

All we have to do is look at the cost of a daily commute to understand why gasoline will no longer be the primary source of transportation power...in our lifetime.

One commute from Waukesha to Milwaukee (24 miles one way)

I used to do this commute every weekday. Thousands of people do everyday in SUVs.

In 2001 and it cost me less than $3. I have some feeling for people who make the commute everyday and many go farther as they are coming from the west side. And don't get 26 miles to the gallon.

52 mile daily commute in a SUV that gets 12 MPG@$3.25/gallon is costing people:
$13/day
$65/week,
$260/month,
$3,120/year.

That same SUV when gas hits $5/gallon will cost
$20/day
$100/week
$400/month
$4800/year

That is if there is no extra driving, for lunch, meetings, or kid activities.
If you have a 50 mpg car here is what the commute would cost:

50 MPG 24 mile commute
$3.12/day
$15.60/week
$62.50/month
$748.80/year


I do 12 miles one way now and get about 26 MPG and ride bicycle twice a week.

My current costs:

$3/day
$9/week
$36/month
$528/year (4 months no cycling....snow)

(Most people in the world live on much less than what I dump in my gas tank.)

We have no choice but to conserve. Live lighter, drive smarter, drive slower. The oil companies are making the last push to rake profit in before it all collapses. We are on the verge of seeing our car society collapsing under the weight of it's own excess. I'm lucky. I'm healthy, have a cool bicycle and a very nice low traffic ride to work. (some scenic spots and fun hills to climb and bomb) My car has 130k miles and I am holding out for a Smart Car in 2007. I am upping my riding frequency because: MY SALARY AIN'T GOING UP AS FAST AS GAS PRICES ARE!! And I don't expect it to either.



The oil companies are putting squeeze on America. No question about that. The oil lobby and domestic car companies have made huge efforts to keep high mileage cars off the showroom floors for three decades now and are still trying to delay the inevitable to allow high profits for big oil. Why in the world would a car company put the bulk of it's profit on low mileage cars and trucks? Knowing that gas prices are going to vastly out pace inflation and income? WHY? Because they want to maximize profit for the good old boys - oil companies while they can.

It wasn't about demand for SUV's. It was personal wealth building. No vision or empathy for the plight of the working people of America. They purposely created the demand for SUV's with constant barrage of marketing and low choice. Thanks to a susceptible TV watching, fearful populace they got exactly what they wanted. They maximized profit, built individual wealth, pointed the companies at a cliff, placed a brick on the accelerator and jumped out with a golden parachute.

They know gasoline's days are numbered.


AP Photo

The former oil executive Secretary of State Condeleeza Rice has a vested interest in doing her oil man right. Her, Bush and Cheney are all about sending the world into turmoil for oil. Chaos in the Middle East = high profit for not only the oil companies but the war machine that runs on it.

It is all about the oil and tipping the American people upside down and shaking every last red cent from them. That is Bush administration values, that is what the GOP works for. The GOP doesn't want security from terror for America.

They want personal financial security for themselves.

Bunker mentality.

The best strategy we can have as a nation to ensure our security is to stop demanding cheap gasoline. Stop consuming oil like penny candy. Start demanding and consuming alternative energy resources. Invest in our own security by investing in renewable energy and lowering our individual oil consumption. That is the real fear that oil companies have...that is why they demanded war, unrest and more consumption with inefficient autos. They know it is all coming to end soon as suddenly we make the shift from oil to renewable energy sources.