If not me who?

<$BlogMetaData$>If not me who?


Here are many phrases I thought of for this week’s article and take your choice which fits best for you. If not me who? If not now when? – Whatever happened to Randolph Scott? – Start early and avoid the rush. - Have you lost your mind? – Have you taken leave of your senses? It’s easier said than done.

What I’m eluding to here is that if something isn’t done and done now about conserving our gas, we are merely giving impetus to both little and big oil companies to get behind Hyperion and build this oil refinery in Union County. Preston Phillips said 5 years ago when all this started that the refinery wouldn’t be profitable until oil reaches $70 per barrel. Then a year later he said $90 a barrel and then $100 a barrel. Well guess what folks? Last week oil hit $107 a barrel. And why is this? It is because we are so pampered that we are consuming gas at an alarming rate and not only is demand going up but the short sellers on the commodities market are driving it up. Supply is still the same. There is a glut on the market because of the 147 refineries in the United States, most of them are either shut down or are operating at 60-70% capacity. To have to face reality and blame myself for the refinery isn’t good. In fact, it makes me kind of queasy.

For what it’s worth, here is my take on this whole situation. If the gas were to come off the commodities market and go according to the laws of supply and demand, there would be plenty and I’m sure it would be considerably less than we are paying now. There was an interview with a Saudi Sheik on TV about a year ago and he said countries are completely stupid. The price of oil should be about $20 per barrel, (last week, it was $107) but because we are so greedy it is going where it is. He isn’t going to complain because he is getting richer off of it. It is costing the same to produce oil today as it was 50 years ago. The oil just comes gushing out of the ground and all we have to do is tap it. Well, you can imagine what happened to that interview. It was never shown or referred to again.

One of the dumbest things I hear on TV is for people to scream for not opening the oil reserves, thinking that if the reserves opened up the, the price would go down. W R O N G! Opening the reserves is just a drop in the bucket, and does nothing for both the short term and the long term situation. Evidently young people and us older folks as well, forget about gas rationing back in 1973-1974. Just let that happen again and watch people howl. And that was when gas was a whopping $.55 a gallon. The oil companies used to come into gas stations and top off their tanks and lock them and tell everyone ‘sorry, no gas today.’ When the price got to where the oil companies want it, suddenly there is plenty of gas for everyone. Nobody asked why the sudden change. 1973 is when OPEC was formed.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that if the profit margin increases, the prices will drop. We cannot tax ourselves into prosperity either. Money that is going to taxes is money that is not being used for purchases. Do people realize that about $.50 per gallon or more is just tax going to the state and federal government? I don’t mean to sound like I’m preaching from the pulpit or anything, but I get so damned mad at the media for using such scare tactics. Pretty soon people will start believing this crap. We are our own worst enemy.

Sometimes I wish that I could go back in time to when life wasn’t so hectic. At least it wasn’t when I was 16. All I worried about then were girls. Anyway, family was the center of my life. My mother insisted that we do things together. It wasn’t a case of all the kids scattering to the winds, because we only had ONE car. That was sufficient, and we didn’t think about needing 2 cars. That was extravagance and that wasn’t right. Both boys and girls rode their bikes wherever we needed to go and never thought anything about going in a car.

We didn’t go to town on a whim “just” to shop or pick up one item. We waited until Saturday. Only then did we have an excuse to go somewhere. Sunday was definitely family time and we never gave a second thought to doing something on our own. Do you remember “Blue Laws?” Today that thought never comes into one’s mind. And I absolutely hate this word ‘bonding.’ That is almost as bad as ‘time out.’ “Just wait till your father gets home” was enough to scare the heck out of me.

Anyway, what is wrong with trying to conserve on gas. Trying to conserve isn’t the end of the world you know. If we were really serious and did that, the price of gas would drop in a heartbeat. There would be such a glut on the market, the oil companies would be screaming like a mashed cat. So called shortages and sky high prices would be a pipe dream and we would once again be less conscious of the high cost of living because it would actually be cheaper. Why be forced to do something when we don’t have to. I would rather do it on my own volition than have somebody hold a gun to my head and demand that I do it. It is a dirty word to “deny ourselves” and blame it on the other guy for our misgivings. IF NOT ME WHO? IF NOT NOW WHEN?