Market forces work

despite what lots of different special interest groups would like you to believe. For years now, Americans have been living in a fantasy world where they have some inherent entitlement to cheap gas. This has led to the prevalence of gas chugging SUVs and a continuous, rapid exodus from city living to suburbia, "The American Dream". This shift was also helped (and possibly begun) by the changing of zoning laws during the mid-late 40's, post-WW2. During the war, zoning laws were put into effect that segregated commercial and residential structures, and this was continuing trend for years. That did a lot to help decentralize our population, and that was one of the most detrimental things to happen to our society.

Today, gas prices are averaging almost $4 a gallon across the country (I can find gas in Hennrietta for $3.59 as of yesterday). This has brought gas prices, and energy in general, to the forefront of American consciousness. Thus, it has become a major topic for our useless sacks of... I mean our politicians. There has also been a huge drive, due to higher energy costs and the onset of global warming consequences, to switch our country to cleaner energy production methods. The solutions we keep hearing about these topics just show how good the federal government has been at manipulating the population to be completely dependent on them. Every solution is some new government tax on company profits, excise tax holidays, cracking down on speculators (as if that's even possible, considering many of them are out of US jurisdiction), tax incentives for green energy, mandating green energy production, and the list keeps going. How about the solution that doesn't involved us collectively chugging from the government's corrupted teet? Let the market do its thing. Yes, people in this country have the quick-fix mentality ingrained in their consciousness, but if you think to the future just a little bit, you'll see that you can actually rely on the market to make corrections for you. Prices are rising? Guess what happens in economics when prices rise? Demand will drop in that market, and will increase in a different market. People will find alternatives. It's a collective pipe-dream that we should all be allowed to drive our behemoth SUVs everywhere without regard to our actions while the government does whatever it needs to do to keep our irresponsible way of life going.

Over the past few years there have been no government mandates taxing profits on oil companies, nor have there been mandates on the auto industry to stop conspiring to keep alternate technology cars off the market, and what has been the result? The market took care of it. GM and Ford, and Toyota with their focus on pickup trucks, have been desperately trying to retool and shift their focus away from gas-guzzlers as demand for SUVs and other large vehicles has plummeted. Americans are drastically shifting their transportation habits. In March we cut 11 billion miles nationally from our total vehicle miles traveled. Car companies can't even come close to pumping out hybrids fast enough to meet demand. Freight companies are mandating their truckers to drop from 70mph to 63mph on highways, increasing their mileage from 4.7 to 5.6 miles per gallon (that comes directly from my uncle, who has been driving trucks for 30 years). Public transportation, which is woefully inadequate in this country, especially in the northeast, is seeing a spike in passengers. Syracuse has started adding more bus routes, and I think Rochester will be doing that soon, too. Couple this with the mortgage crisis and you see a flood of people moving from suburbia back into the cities. This is most prevalent in California where you are now seeing ghost towns where people used to live in their McMansions.

Yes, I completely agree that the energy crisis in this country sucks. But it's a crisis of our own doing. It was brought about by our short-sightedness, our feeling of entitlement, a callous arrogance we have, and an ignorance most of us share about how our actions impact the world. America needs this crisis because it is the only way to shift our culture over to one with a more sustainable way of life. Americans can be tough and resourceful, we just prefer not to be. Well, the world is giving us a wakeup call right now.

Here's hoping for an STI that runs on hydrogen one of these days....