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.

Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, 9/11, and Iraq

It is imperative that every caring and concerned United States citizen read about and watch “The Dark Side,” an hour-long documentary done by PBS’s award-winning Frontline. Originally aired on June 20, 2006, “The Dark Side” delves into the immediate aftermath of 9/11, and the White House’s response to the tragedy. This is not another conspiracy theory “documentary,” but an actual report done by professional journalists.

Much of America and the world regard Bush and his administration as a blemish in history, incompetent, or downright evil. It is important that, whatever one’s political views are, they be based on facts and true information, not just on the latest overblown news story or political misinformation.

Today, much of the negative publicity surrounding President Bush is focused on the wrong person or persons. Without excusing the mistakes that he has made, President Bush’s current legacy of misjudgment and failure (as he is viewed by most) is unfairly attributed to him alone.

Upon election in 2000, Mr. Bush found himself an inexperienced and uneducated President and a Commander in Chief of the world’s most powerful nation. Wisely, he surrounded himself with political, military, strategy, and intelligence heavy-weights, such as Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Colon Powel (all hardened veterans of past administrations).

Going in, Bush’s cabinet appeared powerful and experienced. What resulted from it, however, were world-changing decisions that stemmed from power struggles, distrust, over-confidence, and interpersonal communications meltdowns.

Is it surprising to know that Dick Cheney is the most powerful vice-president in American history? Or that while serving for 10 years in congress, Cheney dealt heavily in “Intelligence Maters” (as in the CIA)? Perhaps most surprising is the fact that Bush originally relied on George Tenet’s and Colon Powel’s advice to enter Afghanistan, and was later convinced by Cheney and Rumsfeld (who were desperately grasping for power) to enter Iraq.

Through Frontline’s documentary, it becomes clear that the events of the past seven years are events that occur when an inexperienced person is placed in a position of great power, and listens to only those closest to him.

Perhaps the Bush administration means well, and through all its secrecy, mistakes, and apparent “aloofness” to world opinion, is simply a victim of seemingly good decisions that went bad.

Contained in the Frontline show are interviews, facts, and quotes that can be chilling, infuriating, and damning. Although the perception of the Bush administration as a whole may not change, after viewing “The Dark Side” it is almost guaranteed that the blame resting on Mr. Bush will shift to others in the Executive branch.

Each and every person needs to watch “The Dark Side” to understand the actual events of post-9/11 America, and the real story behind the war in Iraq.

Watch Frontline’s The Dark Side on PBS.com now.