Gasoline
prices are crude, beer
is cheap – it sucks
Tim
Waddingham
When
I spend more money on a gallon of
gas than I do on four beers at Sullivan’s on Thursday nights, something
is wrong.
According to the American Automobile Association, the average price for a gallon
of gas across America was $2.60 as of last Friday, which is a 38 percent increase
in the past year and a 13.9 percent increase in the past month alone. For those
of you who are unaware, Sullivan’s bar offers four Coors Lights for $2.50
on Thursday nights.
This means I can fill my body up with beer for cheaper than I can fill my car
up with gas.
Although I’m sure some people will find this extremely satisfying, the
problem of gasoline prices remains.
What’s worse is the future of gasoline prices seems even more horrifying
than the present. It’s scary to think that in a few years we’re
going to miss the day that we spent only $2.60 per gallon.
According to a CNBC report, Hurricane Katrina might send crude oil prices spiraling
upward to over $70 a barrel because of the storm’s location. The Gulf
of Mexico, where Katrina stormed through, supplies about one quarter of the
U.S. domestic oil and gas output and as of Saturday 563,000 barrels of crude
oil were shut down in anticipation of the catastrophe, according to Reuters.
As of last Friday, crude oil stood at $66.13 per barrel. Assuming the price
of crude oil jumps to exactly $70 a barrel (which is using conservative figures),
we would see an immediate 16-cent increase per gallon to the national average
of $2.60.
Without considering other increases, such as taxes, we are looking at about
$2.76 a gallon for gasoline in the next few weeks, if not days. And this upcoming
increase is solely because of a hurricane.
The fact of the matter is that gasoline prices will continue to climb for the
foreseeable future. Inevitably we are going to have to think of alternative
energy sources, or, at the very least, start buying more hybrid cars.
Cars and sport utility vehicles that get 10 to 20 miles per gallon will be
outdated in the not too distant future and smaller, more fuel-efficient cars
will rule the roads. We are already beginning to see this, as huge SUVs such
as Suburbans and Hummers are having trouble selling like they did five years
ago.
Our dependence on Middle Eastern oil should be more than enough of an incentive
to find other sources of energy and as gas prices continue to skyrocket, it
will only add to that incentive.
The problem is that we do not have any reliable or practical energy source
for our vehicles other than oil and it’s not looking like we will anytime
soon. Therefore, our only option for the next few years is to utilize more
fuel-efficient cars such as hybrids.
Unfortunately, most hybrids lack creativity and are painful to look at. A perfect
example is the Toyota Prius. Priuses get great gas mileage, but who really
wants to drive a Prius? Have you ever seen a Prius? I think people would rather
spend the additional money on gas so they can own a vehicle that actually looks
like a modern car.
The Prius, on the other hand looks like a life-sized Hot Wheels car, only lamer.
What we need are more fuel-efficient cars that get better gas mileage, or a
whole new kind of energy source altogether. Even if the latter does not come
about for years, we should at least begin the transformation from the useless,
wasteful SUVs to the more fuel-efficient, albeit ugly, hybrids.
As I mentioned earlier, I think it is ridiculous that I can get four beers
at a bar for less than one gallon of gas. Although I do take some solace in
this, I also realize Americans do much more driving than they do drinking.
Furthermore, beer is something Americans will never be dependent on others
for, so I can sleep well knowing there won’t be exponential increases
in beer prices. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for oil.
This column was originally printed in the Rocky Mountain Collegian at Colorado
State University.
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