The Circular Gas Inflation Drama

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Category: Jeremy Addis-Mills

Published on Tuesday, 31 May 2011 07:10

Written by Jaddis-Mills

As we are emerging from the spring season of blossoming flowers into the summer season of warmth and fun in the sun, we are now afflicted with the problem we face year… after year… after year: rising gas prices. Oddly, rising gas prices has become so synonymous with summer, it defies logic as to why the American people continue to be shocked and appalled by this annual occurrence. The issue of gas prices in America is endemic of how short term and political expedient solutions are proposed to satisfy an electorate that accepts these solutions.

As sure as it will rain again, every summer there are calls for the government to do something to alleviate the high price of fuel. Every May, the electorate starts to stir about rising gas prices. Politician A, often Republicans but Democrats have also been compliant, proposed that the problem of high gas prices is caused by environmental restrictions that prevent oil companies from drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge or offshore.

The most recent high profile example of this fight was during the 2008 presidential race. High gas prices lead then Senator Obama and Senator McCain to fight over who supported the most and quickest drilling in the gulf. It did not matter that no matter how much coast we opened to exploration, the soonest that any of the oil could enter the American fuel supply would be ten years at best and even then it was argued that the effect would be negligible considering it would be so little (in comparison to global supply).

This convenient public relations redirection of the blame, from highly profitable corporate and foreign oligarchy that controls global oil production to environmental regulation, forces a conversation not about our economic dependency on oil, the oligarchy that controls global oil production, or the environmental cost of gaining access to this oil; the debate becomes mired in how the hippie-dippy environmentalists want to protect a fish over your ability to feed your family (a social ill that has many more pertinent causes than environmental regulations). Eventually, more areas are open to drilling off shore, environmentalists are further cast into the shadows of mainstream politics, and the American people settle down, content as we enter the Fall and gas prices naturally go down. This cyclical nature of short term political expedient solutions has yet to yield a long term solution for our long term energy demands.

With oil production largely overseas and out of America’s control, America struggles to maintain its economic position in the world; it has to develop a comprehensive energy plan that includes domestic forms of energy…clean, renewable energy. This does not mean that tomorrow everyone’s power will be coming from renewable energy sources, but it does mean that continuing to subsidize old energy technologies and strategic planning for the reliance on these technologies (more oil exploration, future natural gas power plants) into the future can’t continue. Most folks would argue that the problem with the theory is that renewable energy production is in no way sufficient to meet current or future demands. Consider this: in 1991 the Apple Macintosh Classic was introduced, a computer that looks nothing like a computer today and has less capability and functionality than my iPhone 4 released onto the market 20 years later. Renewable electricity technologies are in their infancy. Some of these technologies have made leaps and bounds in innovation, design, efficiencies, and cost.   If we give them the free market space and a level playing field similar to what Apple and Microsoft had when they entered the market, we will end up with an advanced fleet of new technologies that will protect the planet and alleviate our need for fossil fuels. Planning for the future needs to begin now. The circular gas inflation drama over the high gas prices needs to end and it will with investments in the future, investments in real energy solution, investments in renewables.

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