The free market may be right here…
I recently received an email from moveon.org wanting me to sign a petition supporting a bill that would place pricing limitations on the oil companies. Yes, I do hate the oil companies. I do agree that they are exploiting us with their rising prices. The oil companies are probably even better represented in Washington than we are. I do not enjoy the mass of profit flowing to Big Oil, they do not deserve that money. And yet we do not deserve the low costs that we have been paying for our gasoline. The $3.39 at the pump is not an accurate account of the real expense. Fossil fuels are in limited supply and we act as though they are infinite, a crop that will continue to yield. No, they will run out. We have probably even peaked already. Then there is the damage that we do, both in acquiring and using the fuel. Maybe the Earth does warm and cool in cycles, but we are certainly helping to warm it now.
Where is the sense of big picture? Gasoline is not overpriced, it is under priced and the money is going to the wrong places. Gas prices need to rise and not to anyone’s benefit, but for everyone’s benefit. The high costs of fuel must be channeled to research and development of more sustainable energy resources. There are all these advertisements for life insurance and retirement plans, so we know that people can think into the future. So why can we not do this for our collective future?
Higher fuel cost will also be of great value as a deterrent to driving personal automobiles. This is where I will do a rare thing, and that is praise the free market. Technology in fuel efficiency is getting better, fuel has peaked and is thus becoming more difficult to obtain, people are becoming more conscious of their driving habits and fuel consumption. The oil companies are watching all of this happen and wondering about their future. The end of Big Oil has become a reasonable idea. They, being business savvy, have decided to make a valiant last effort at pulling in as much cash as is possible before they are obsolete or run out of town. Likely both.
The oil companies have raised their prices. The masses are paying the price, for now. The news will continue to grow more dire for Big Oil, the prices will go up, less and less people will pay, and eventually this current system will phase out. This is the free market economy working its way out. I am not opposed to the efforts by the Senate and moveon.org, trying to curb oil profits. But the unbalanced profits are just a part of the problem, and not even a significant part at that. As much as I despise to see them reap the exploitative profits, I love to see them dig their grave. And Big Oil is doing just that.
Hey Dav-
Thanks for opening up the comments!
I too am less concerned about the rise of gasoline prices than most, and for similar reasons. Over the next 20… 50… (?) years, America is going to go through the gasoline shakes as prices go up and up, but right now we’re still not paying half of what people pay in Europe and Asia. If I ‘need’ to use gas, I’ll pay the price. Complaining about how expensive gas is (in dollars) distracts from the bigger picture, like you say. My monthly finances are personal, short-term worries, whereas fossil-fuel depletion demands broad, long-term goals.