So, How Much Are You Willing To Pay.

Boy oh boy. There is a great article in the Washington Post this morning titled "Think gas is to pricey" it was asked of some Congressmen and Senators. But it's not about the price at the pump. It's about the true cost of oil. what's True Cost mean? Well aside from the Gulf oil spill and other tragic occurrences around the world from time to time, it means the cost of everything that costs the taxpayer as a result of our dependency on oil. Which means that based on a current price of $2.72 per gallon, the true price is $4.37. So where does this $1.67 come from? All sorts of places. Like our cost to help prop up friendly, oil producing monarchies and semi-democratic countries, to cleanup costs (of other spills), to lost jobs and industries, to subsidies for oil companies, to pollution, to a host of areas we wouldn't even think of. The thing is, the cost of oil is cheap, but only cheap in relation to any other available energy source capable of providing fuel for transportation, or the lack of an alternative, which is more to the point. So when people complain about spending money to subsidize alternative energy research or production, everyone shouts out against spending the money. What they should be hollering about is why the government isn't looking harder for a less expensive alternative to gas(oil). And if you think oil is a problem, the actual true cost of coal is by far a more serious problem. So, what's the answer? Well, we could continue to do what we've been doing, which is basically NOT MUCH. That will allow you and me to get off relatively cheaply, or we can bite the bullet a little and start to make some changes. They'll be a little more expensive, but it'll make things a lot easier for our children and grandchildren. On the other hand, cheap gas is nice too. And what if after spending all that money on research, they can't find a better energy source? We'd have lost all that money, right? And maybe oil isn't as bad as we think, right? See, you can rationalize anything.






























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