Oil Dependency

Gas is now over $4/gallon in most part of the country and if you are lucky enough to live in California, then you are looking at $4.30 - $4.60/gallon of gas. Despite that face that the average American household is spending an average of $368/month on gas (source: CNN Money), people does not seen to think that their action has a direct impact on gas prices.

"I didn't ask for the oil prices to go up!!" you may say.

No, darling, not directly, you did not, but let me introduce you to the concept of demand and supply. The higher the demand, the shorter the supply, the higher the prices. Then, you throw in the concept of pricing at "what the market will bear." The oil companies are here to make money. Last I checked, none of them are charitable organizations. They already know that people will and can shell out $4+ for a gallon of gas, why would they bring it back down? Believe me, we are all made of greed. The loudest protestor today, if put in the same shoe, will not be selling gas for less than $2/gal if he knows he can get $4.

"But I need to drive (to work/pick up kids, etc. etc.)!!"

I WILL give the benefit of doubt to those who actually cannot afford a new more gas efficient car; however, many Americans do not seem to factor the gas mileage into their decision of car purchasing. In fact, many doesn't even factor in their financial situation when making that decision. I've driven a Dodge Neon for 8 years. Almost all of my friends who are in a financial bind drive a better car than me. The word affordability seems to have no meaning. They may live paycheck to paycheck -- actually, that assumes their income are still covering their expenses, it's more like credit card to credit card -- but the car must have to be the status symbol. Okay, perhaps you can use reliability as an argument. That a slightly more expensive Japanese car  arguably offers more reliability than an American car (although my Neon had never given me any issues, nor have our Pontiac Vibe). The other thing I heard the most is power. His/her car must have this mythical power. Never mind that it will only go 13 mpg (is it at least up to 23 mpg now?) -- it has power. If he/she has to spend an entire paycheck a month on filling up the car, it's okay, it has power.

The concept of power eludes me. As an anthropology major in college, I distinctively remember my professor saying that most hominids do not tend to survive a pelvic fracture. Our body is simply not made to absorb that kind of an impact. Yet we love speed. We love driving at 70, 80, 90, 100+ mph. Evolution had totally failed us here.

Nevertheless, it's a personal choice. Just don't say that you did not contribute to the gas price. You can doubt global warming/climate change. It's very arguable, but that's a different topic for a different date. But judging at all the extreme drilling (deep sea oil drilling and sand oil) we have been resolving to, I'd say the evidence does support that fact that the resource is limited. I am not saying that hybrid and/or electric is the be all end all solution to our oil dependency or environmental issues, afterall, oil and natural gas are still used in the production of energy. Not to mention how our current power grid really cannot support everybody switching to an electric car tomorrow. Nevertheless, it does use less gas to power your car with electricity versus gasoline.

My point is: do keep in mind how your demand for gas helps perpetuate this seemingly capless increase in gas prices. Once upon a time, my 23 mpg little Neon was considered gas efficient. Now we all laugh at that. Car manufacturers had finally caught onto the fact that many consumers are looking for more gas efficient. Let's keep that up, slowly and gradually, switch to more gas efficient cars, drive down the demand, drive down the oil cost, while we continue to look for more sustainable ways to maintain our lifestyle.

That said, here's a very promising TED.com about potential future clean battery production: