Thursday, April 27
Weblog Post #17 - A Gastastrophe
I'm in the same boat, but I think I'll try to write a little about it.
When I first got my license, it cost just over $10 to fill the tank of my Buick Regal. Eight years and a Ford Taurus SHO later, it's costing me $35, and it's rising. Why is this happening? It's really tough to say.
The first violent increase occurred shortly after Hurricane Katrina hit the southern part of the country in late summer of last year. I think that was when paying over $2 became a mainstay.
I was working for the Sun-Gazette at the time and I even did a story about what Gov. Ed G. Rendell was going to do to stop price gouging. If I remember correctly Rendell really liked to say the word "gouging." Anyway...
At a time when some state gas pumps couldn't even register $2 gallons, Rendell said that gas stations that price gouged would face harsh penalties. Prices did manage to go down closer to $2, but as far as I know nothing else came out of it.
****SLIGHTLY FUNNY STORY SIDEBAR****
I was part of a joint phone interview with Rendell and a few other news reporters. After giving his heroic speech about how people should conserve gasoline and that he'd stop gouging dead in its tracks, one of the reporters asked the governor why he was attending a football game in Pittsburgh and then flying to a game in Philadelphia on the same day that weekend - all while telling people to conserve gas. He did an impressive job avoiding the question, but I thought it was a funny question.
President Bush is doing a similar thing these days. Bush orders gasoline price probe
In short, Dubya's gotta do what he's gotta do. With people groaning at the pumps and his approval ratings hitting record lows, this "probe" is necessary action for him.
I am by no means a political science major, but when you are dealing with multi-billion dollar companies and one of our country's most important imports, shouldn't you have a better idea of what's going on?
Gasoline was $1.19 less than a decade ago. Shouldn't Dubya, or someone in the White House, have some idea if $3 gallons are too much? It seems to me that if there is a need for them to be suspicious, than something rotten is going on.
I was never into the "we're at war because of oil" line, but since Dubya and Dicky C have their very apparent oil ties, why should be beleive them when they say they're are going to hunt down these price gougers? Wouldn't that be screwing their friends? They are going to need jobs in two years, they aren't going to want to do that.
Considering that companies like Exxon-Mobil are making $31 billion profits, the, "well, gas prices are high right now and that's why you want to make sure there's not (market manipulation)" line isn't enough for me. That sounds like, "people are making a stink about it and we've got nothing better to do."
Now there is talk about giving a $100 rebate to tax payers to help. (Can I get a laughing smiley?) 
I am a graduate student, I walk to class, I have a job that's less than a half a mile away, I drive to the super market once every two weeks, I drive to State College once a month and I drive home on the holidays. Compared to the average American, I don't drive much.
So, $100 fills up my tank two and a half times. Not bad, that can last me about a month, maybe a little more. You give $100 to the average American SUV-driving commuter and that $100 is spent in less than a day. I'm sure the average driver, like myself, would never turn down $100, but it isn't going to solve any problems. 
So the lesson here is: we are too dependent on oil. Everybody knows that and I'd like to think of a solution, but I can't. We just need more from our politicians. One hundred dollars is not going to keep us happy for very long. The job of "solution finder" is in their hands because they should know when the American people are getting screwed.
