Gas Prices: Get Used to Them

Americans should realize by now that gas prices aren't going down anytime soon. Instability in the Middle East as a whole is increasing and is not headed towards a resolution short of a violent collision of ideas, ideals, religion, and cultures.

America's untapped oil resources in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge, nor the offshore oil reserves, nor even the Green River Valley have anywhere near enough oil to assist the American dependence on oil -- what's more is that it would take at least 5-10 years for ANY of the domestic oil to even hit the market. As such, if the intention is to lower the current prices at the pump, any new domestic exploration and drilling would be ineffective.

President Bush and John McCain have good intentions in attempting to relieve America's dependable on foreign oil, but what what must be done to solve the problem is to relieve America's dependence on oil in general -- its usage is simply unsustainable.

As worldwide oil consumption increases year after year, with the United States being no exception, one must be conscious of the fact that oil takes millions of years to form -- and that it is not a renewable resource. One day it will run out. One day, humans will be forced to find an alternative; why not start now?

Nancy Pelosi, to her credit, has fought against offshore oil drilling since she joined congress in 1987. Disappointingly, however, she has an ill-rationed plan to lower the current gas prices: to release some or all of the 700 million barrels in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Bush counters that doing so would harm America's national security -- to good reason. The oil reserve is in place to protect against a national emergency, such as another terrorist attack or a natural disaster. It is not in place to ease gas prices for the average consumer, especially when the prices are simply a reflection of a sinking American and world economies and current events.

As of spring 2007, the United States uses near 21 million barrels of oil PER DAY. If America had to suddenly depend solely on the Strategic Oil Reserve, it would last for only one month. Gas prices reaching $4 a gallon is no justification for opening the emergency kit. The current situation is a grave problem, but it is not a national emergency.

So what is the answer? It is not a simple one, and is not one that is likely to appease the many Americans complaining of the high gas prices and the subsequent rise in the cost if living: to reduce America's dependency on oil and to increase our abilities to utilize American ingenuity and creativity to find and implement alternative forms of energy.

Gas prices aren't going anywhere, and Americans should get used to them now -- if not now, then when? Besides, Americans should still consider themselves lucky: consider these per-gallon prices from around the world.

Even the supermajors (commonly known as Big Oil -- Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and Total) know that the future for oil is bleak and will require ever-advancing technologies to simply locate and produce it. Perhaps they might place some of their record-breaking profits towards the development of new, alternative, and sustainable energy, leading the world not simply in oil production and profits, but in energy production for the betterment of civilization and mankind as a whole.

Alternative sources of energy won't instantly solve the problem -- it has taken America decades to dig itself into this dependancy, and we won't easily nor quickly dig ourselves out.

We should look at using a multitude of different sources for our energy; each region of the United States has different natural resources and a different climate, and there is no miracle energy cure. As such, American's should consider utilizing many different sources at once, or have transportation devices uniquely suited to certain regions (i.e. solar power out west, wind power on the coast, etc.).

Times are a-changin' people. Get used to it.