Gas Prices Not 'Outrageous'

On mainstream news this morning I heard our Utah Governor declare US gas prices "outrageous". Memorial Day national news coverage labeled them "sky high." Wrong! Gas prices only seem outrageous to we Americans who George W. Bush correctly noted are "addicted to oil".

Europeans, by contrast, have lived with high gas prices for years, using proceeds to fund social programs, re-build infrastructure, etc. In addition, as noted in a May 21 Senate-side Congressional hearing Exploring the Skyrocketing Price of Oil (3 hrs), Europeans used gas tax differentials to correctly steer transportation systems toward diesel and away from gasoline, which proves ever-more important now that clean diesel is available. And to steer transportation system toward mass transit and away from single-vehicle transportation. Meanwhile we Americans sat around watching TV and partying until world market forces pushed prices upward, allowing most of the recent 'surplus' to be captured as record profits, record CEO compensation, etc. by what I'll call the Petrochemical Industrial Complex. Finally, Europeans are now beginning to look toward a future free of dependence on petrochemicals and their commingled carbon-loading propensities.

Even though we Americans are just now beginning to face the reality of high gas prices, the prices themselves are not the problem. In fact "sky high" prices are finally getting us to pay attention, however feebly, to alternative sources of energy that are compatible with global climate systems and human survival. As noted in the Congressional hearing, planet Earth is not in jeopardy, rather it is we humans (along with myriad other species) who are at risk. The Earth has worked its way through five Great Extinctions in the past and arguable done remarkably well. But it is in no way clear that we humans will survive the Sixth Great Extinction. Tragically, we humans may be contributing to our collective demise by clamoring for lower gas prices.

This is not to say that all is well in petrochemical industrial complex, medical industrial complex, financial industrial complex, military industrial complex America. But that is a story for another post (or several hundred posts). In the meantime 3 hours are well-spent viewing the hearing. If you want a sneak peak, go to 2:15 in the videocast and watch Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) in action, followed by others as the hearing winds up.

Comments

[Steve Salmony]

letter to the editor
Chapel Hill (NC) Newspaper
June 11, 2008

Solutions exist if we apply the science.


Humankind is surely experiencing the fulfillment of a Chinese proverb: "We live in interesting times." Many of our brilliant scientists report that God is a delusion. On the other hand, intuitive and gifted believers regularly tell us that these scientists themselves suffer from a form of delusional atheism. No one knows, I suppose, which of these groups is correct.

I am one of those people who believes the family of humanity can use God's gift of science to take the measure of any global challenge and find solutions that are consonant with universal values. But, before we can move forward to reasonably address and sensibly overcome a challenge to human wellbeing and environmental health such as global warming, that challenge needs to be openly acknowledged and widely discussed. I suppose it is a function of my life experience to suggest that we accurately "diagnose" whatever the challenge is before proceeding to implement "treatment" options.

If great spiritual and scientific leaders are somehow on the right track when realizing, "The Earth has a human-induced fever and could overheat," then at least one available treatment option is to carefully and skillfully examine the extant scientific evidence related to global warming and to make necessary changes in human behavior, both individually and collectively.

All of the above serves to set the stage for our consideration of a question. How can politicians and economic powerbrokers in the human community be empowered to muster the "political will" necessary for addressing human-driven climate change as well as for providing the substantial economic incentives and financial capital necessary to overcome this potential global threat to life as we know it and the integrity of Earth?

-- Steven Earl Salmony, Chapel Hill

[Tim Ridgers]

I am not sure that the earth will survive the "sixth extermination". Since the changes actually been induced by man are also seriously impacting all other ecosystems - we are eliminating species at an alarming rate, and generating pollution that may prevent other forms of life. Finally towards the great end, humankind, in its fullest ultimate wisdom, may actually push the button(s) that usher in all kinds of nuclear holocausts, preventing any kind of future existence on this planet.

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