Lower Gas Prices Are in Your Hands

Recent headlines posted about gas prices seem to have people oblivious to the simple facts. Gas is a good, a commodity and a product, it is not a necessity. While many people act as if gasoline and driving is a necessity very few of us actually need to drive at all, much less to the degree that we do. Cars are for the most part a luxury item, something to make our traveling easier.

Yet we as a nation sit back and wonder why gas prices are going up and we are outraged at the oil companies for making such high profits. The simple facts behind oil consist of a limited supply and an unlimited demand. Regardless of the technology we develop for getting to the oil, there will always be a finite supply of it, thus we will see a steady rise in cost, for the remainder of our use of it, until finally all oil is gone, or it becomes an obsolete form of fuel. Yes there are oil reserves in Alaska we can drill and places off our coasts to put well's, but in the long run this will merely put a Band-Aid on the wound, so long as we keep using oil, the price of it will rise, and if we keep using oil at our current rate then the price will continue to skyrocket every summer. We are now paying three times, and in some parts four times, what I paid 7 years ago when I first put gas in my mother's minivan.

The online networking website face book, is littered with groups about gas and the cost of such. One of the most common groups is a boycott group where people decide that by not buying gas for one day, they will truly show the oil companies that the American people are angry and are tired of buying expensive gas. Well it does not matter how angry we get, or how high they raise the prices, because unless we as a nation change our energy usage policies on a personal basis then we will only exceed our current demands and thus drive up the price even higher. Please do not join anymore boycott groups, you will only fill up your tank the day before or the day after the boycott, and you will only send the message that you are as dependent upon their product as ever.

If you truly wish to see gas prices fall and send a message, then stop using so much gas. Buy a bike, find job locations within reach of your home, for your teenagers, make sure the jobs they have are within biking distance, so that they are not being driven to their first job. If your kids are to play sports, then get them involved in park sports which are near your home, and organize carpools with other parents and families.

For commuters, try using your local public transit system. In smaller cities such as Lexington, KY, where I live the public transit is not very good, but this is mostly due to a lack of usage. If we seek change then we must inspire it and insist upon it through our own actions. As Gandhi said "Be the change you wish to see in the world".