Published June 24, 2008

Their solution to the problem is to simply punch more holes into the earth wherever there is the slightest hint that petroleum exists. They are firmly entrenched in their belief that we can drill ourselves out of this mess.

They are mad at the Democrats, the tree huggers, the far-left liberal idiots, Jane Fonda, people who live in places with nice beaches, California's Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and probably their mothers for bring them into this world.

Today I heard a spokesperson for Chevron Oil speaking on NPR about off-shore deep-sea drilling. He said that if the government changed its policies and permitted coastal drilling it would not be an immediate solution and probably wouldn't reduce the cost of gasoline. From the time a lease is granted till the moment deep-sea crude oil arrived at the refinery door would take at least ten-years. By that time the growing demand would not permit the price to go down.

I also recently heard an economist say that in the near future oil will become too scarce and costly to use as a fuel and will instead be used exclusively for chemicals, fertilizers, plastics, medicines, etc.

The simple truth is that we are dealing with a finite substance which is in great demand and is becoming in greater demand. The two most populist nations on earth, China and India, have rapidly growing middle classes who are no longer content riding in rickshaws or peddling bicycles. They want cars, cars are what they are going to get, and thus the demand for gasoline is going to skyrocket. Later this summer India's Tata Motors is going to begin selling the world's cheapest automobile, The Tata. It will sell for $2500, be affordable to millions of Asians, and even at 58 mpg will gulp up massive amounts of gasoline while spewing forth tons of carbon dioxide into the earth's already crippled atmosphere.

I remember being forewarned on the first Earth Day in 1970 that the day would come when we would begin running out of petroleum. We were blatantly warned again in the early 1970s with high gasoline prices and short supplies. We were also warned that we could easily be held hostage by any nation that owned more oil than we did. How did we respond? That VW Rabbit that once sat in my driveway turned into a Ford E-150 high top van that gets at best, sixteen mpg. My brother's Mazda RX-7 became a GMC Yukon SUV that get's even less mpg. Now, it appears, the chickens have come home to roost.

We cannot drill ourselves out of this, we cannot turn the desert sands into glass and take Saudi Arabia's oil from them (as one of my FBFs thinks we should), we cannot expect a masked scientist wearing a white hat and riding a white stallion to disappear into the evening dusk after having left us his latest invention of a SUV like vehicle that runs off of a magical mixture of salt water and desire. The only way out is by conserving what we have.

The wisest thing I've heard anyone say lately is that the biggest oil reserve this nation owns is sitting in our driveways, inside our automobile's fuel tank. If you don't want to spend $5 a gallon on gasoline, don't drive! All of us have got to change our driving habits and it isn't going to be easy. John Baal and I were talking recently and he mentioned how much fuel could be saved if we only buckled up and adjusted our mirrors before we fired up the engine. When I got into my vehicle after leaving his home I discovered that I started the motor before buckling up. Every time I've gotten into my car since I've meant to do it the "green" way but failed every time but one. However, I'm not going to give up trying. I'll probably never notice a difference in my gasoline bill but collectively, it is the right thing to do.

Again, change is not easy. My wife is better at it than I am. She has for years planned her trips to town and tried to maximize the things she gets accomplished in a single trip. I, however, am prone to jump in the car and drive to the hardware store for a nail and go back later for a washer. I have to change and I'm trying. I normally make two trips to the truck stop each day and I've got that down to one on most days and on a few days, I haven't even gone. But, I do miss it and I'm sure I'm missing out on something really important.

Truth is, the days of cheap energy are over and life as we've known it is changing. There is nothing we can do in the short run other than conserve. The government, instead of continuing to offer huge tax incentives to oil companies, should divert those monies to research and development of alternative energies, especially safe and efficient batteries for electric vehicles. Sell me an electric car that is reliable, safe and affordable, that gets thirty miles to the charge, and I can meet the vast majority of my daily transportation needs. Put a small generator in it, like the Chevy Volt concept, and I can meet all my needs.

Unlike my FBFs I'm ready to make the change. But, damn I'm going to miss boppin' the circuit, cruising, doin' the loop, joy riding, road trips, doin' donuts in the snow and, most of all, big mother ship cars that just make the potholes and road noise go away.

greenfieldohio@gmail.com