Category: commentary

By Paul Ranger

The first time it happened was in the early 1970s, I was about 13 years old and Richard Nixon was President. The second time was approximately six years later and Jimmy Carter was in the White House. Now, we have another President and another energy crisis caused not by an “Arab Oil Embargo” as the first two but reportedly by the growth and prosperity of at least two nations in the east, China and India, plus, investors speculation at the prospect of the value of a barrel of oil going upward as demands from these two countries out paces the supply.

Although I was young and uninformed during the first two, in retrospect, I noticed at least one thing which all Americans should take note of also; As soon as the crisis was passed we went back to our old habits which got us in the mess in the first place. It is unfortunate that we did not learn and made adjustments to the way we do business. What ever happened to “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me” we’ve gone beyond fool me twice, now what?

Several times above I’ve used the word “we.” “We” is for”we the people of the United States, the Congress of the United States, and the President of the United States. We all have a part to play to make sure we not only get out of this oil mess but stay out for good! We need to change our way of thinking, our habits, and legislation:

If we continue to depend on countries that do not like us, to sell us their oil, then its no wonder they can jerk our chain at will. If we drill for oil in our own land wouldn’t that relieve the need to get it from overseas? The argument has been used that the oil from the middle east was cheaper than domestic production. Consider this then, If the trend continues in world demand for oil which brought us $4.00 per gallon of gas, then, isn’t it possible for it to become $10.00 per gallon? If one of these oil cartels decides for whatever reason to have another Embargo against us again or, if a crisis develops in the east such as a military conflict and all the worst case scenarios happened at the same time, sending gas to $20.00 per gallon. wouldn’t domestic oil be cheaper?

The unreasonable environmentalists (I say unreasonable because, it seems they never want to compromise) who don’t want any more drilling in the U.S. act as though these extreme scenarios are impossible. Two years ago Who would have thought we would see $4.00 per gallon of gas and In my neck of the woods $5.00 for diesel? But, it’s here. Those in Government who are stubbornly standing by the no more drilling policy are putting our nation’s monetary and military health at risk. Think about it congressman, congresswoman and senators.

One thing that was present during the 1970s gas crisis that’s not present now(not yet) are the long lines at gas stations because there was a shortage. As soon as the shortage was over we went back to life as it was before the crisis. Then, over the years gas prices basically stayed in line with rising salaries, therefore, there was no alarm when there were modest increases in the price of fuel. This situation caused the people and the government to become complacent. The energy saving ideas and proposed development in technology to help wean us off foreign oil seemed to fade away. There was no longer a crisis, and thus, no longer an urgency to find solutions. Naturally with the current situation, there is a renewed interest in finding solutions among the private sector, but, there seems to be no alarm on the part of the Government. What is dampening their will to find permanent solutions, could it be the oil giants? Maybe there needs to be long gas lines again to convince them to act. It seems that their only solution is a proposed return to the 55mph speed limit; can you remember Sammy Hagar’s song “I can’t Drive 55” that how I feel about that one.

I’m concerned that if this current crisis was to end tomorrow, we would do as we did in the past, and return to our old habits again. This may seem like a strange thing to say but, maybe, inflated gas prices are a good thing in the long run. The situation will serve as a motivating factor for the continuance of innovation, to convince more auto makers to make fuel efficient vehicles, such as hybrids, or engines that run on hydrogen produced electricity or compressed air, for investors to fund more research to develop more alternative sources of energy to produce electricity for our homes, or to make coal burn cleaner. If gas would return to $.99 per gallon again, complacency would return and our will to become less oil dependant would go away once more.

In recent days the cost of a barrel of oil has dropped and it’s beginning to show at the gas pump. The experts say that it’s also due to consumers walking, taking mass transit, car pooling and riding bicycles. I’m encouraged by this, however, we should not let this decrease cause us to hope for the good old days. Prices can still return to record highs. We should continue to go forward with new ideas, new investments and an increased will to break free. I hope for the day when we can return to our personal vehicles and not have to worry about gas prices and air pollution, but it will never happen if as things get better, we forgot how terrible it was.