my most dangerous post yet...

I am glad gas prices are rising.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like having to pay more money out of my pocket. I don't like the fact that my available income is getting eaten away at the pump. But I am not upset about rising fuel costs.

Now that you think I'm totally nuts, let me explain why...and I have to preface the rest of this post by saying that these are some preliminary thoughts that I'm just trying to get straight in my head.

I've been reading about how the U.S. has some of the cheapest fuel costs in the world. Most of Europe pays anywhere from $4-$7 a gallon. The rest of the world (except for some oil-rich countries that only pay $.14-$.90/gallon) is not far from that. Now again, why should we care what the rest of the world pays? We shouldn't have to pay that much, you might say.

Well, let's look at what cheap fuel has done for our country. It has pushed our city limits sprawling further and further to where the average commute time is somewhere around 30 minutes a day. That's about 52 hours a year if my math is right! The urban sprawl has led to a huge decline in public transportation/walking/bike riding which has led to sickening and deadly levels of air pollution, obesity, and arguably a decrease in sense of community.

Urban sprawl has also led to the boringization of America. Everywhere you go, all you see is Target, McDonald's, Michael's, Wal-Mart, Barnes and Noble, Costco, Wendy's, Target, Super Wal-Mart, McDonald's, and so on. Every shopping center looks the same in the suburbs. It's hard to find an independent store or restaurant in the midst of the corporate giants.

Another result of cheap fuel is that we as a society have not truly been seeking an alternative to oil. Sure, there are people doing real research on these things, but where is the motivation to ween ourselves off of a dirty, non-renewable resource when it's so cheap? Maybe if we have to pay five bucks for a gallon of gas and $8 for a gallon of milk, the powers that be will start to really pick up on the research. I mean, we have some stinking-smart people around here. Shouldn't we have an affordable electric, solar, wind-powered, or some other alternative fuel-driven car by now? And maybe if we have to pay $5/gallon of gas, more people will start riding the bus, train, or subway.

Who knows, if fuel gets so expensive that we start using alternative fuels, we might loosen the grip that foreign countries have on us and we might find ourselves in less wars and we might not have to worry so much about terrorism because we won't be shelling out bajillions of dollars each year to several countries that support terrorists.

I realize that these changes will not come overnight and I understand that there are some dire consequences to a sharp spike in fuel costs, i.e. recession, more foreclosures and bankruptcies and people closing businesses and losing jobs. I am definitely not a propionate of those things! I do think, however, that we as a country (myself included) need a little wake-up call in regard to our use of energy, where we're going, and what we can do to make some changes. I'll also close this post humbly by reminding myself that I am typing on my coal-fire-run computer sitting in the office of my comfy house in the suburbs.