Feature: Cars and Oil

$1.85 was the price for a gallon of gas until Hurricane Katrina which decreased refining capacity in the Gulf of Mexico then immediately went up to $2.70. We were told the price would go down when the refiners got back up to capacity, it then went to around $2.10 then back up to about $2.30 because Oil companies said they had to change the gas make up do to seasonal changes. Now we’re up to $3.25. This is not natural economic factors at work: it’s the result of price gauging by the Oil companies in an attempt to grab every red cent with no concern for everybody else. My friends bare in mind the following fact: after Hurricane Katrina when the refiners came back online the price of gas never never came back down to its previous amount. The price at the pump is artificially high; it does not have to be $3.50. It does not have anything to do with OPEC because globally there is an over production of oil on the markets. American oil companies (not oil producing countries) have no reason to decrease prices if we continue to pay. I’m no economist but I did minor in economics: ideally the government would be advised to aggressively regulate the price of gas (similar to how some cities have price ceilings on apartment prices) however this could only happen in a utopian world so I offer the following capitalistic tangible ideas. To decrease the price of gas the consumer must cut back on driving therefore decreasing demand in addition to the private sector ramping up competition targeted within automotive industry: The United States producing quality durable cars, economical affordable cars, fuel efficient cars, and hastening innovation where technologies are available but motivation to change is absent – hybrids, hydrogen is the way to go. Such a hastening is to be directed by corporate CEO/Presidents. No one can argue with my stance because it is fact that auto makers that valued quality, affordability, and fuel efficiency (Toyota) have surpassed FORD and GMC in their share of American auto sells. This will be the salvation of U.S. economy. Open your eyes business! Cars and Oil.

-A.T. Brooks