official gas boycott day

I got a text from a friend out in LA yesterday. It was short and to the point: "don not buy gas today" Her text upset me so I replied in short hand what this blog will soon state.

This was the article that broke the camel's back and made me want to start blogging again. I am sick and tired of getting junk e-mail, especially when they tell me to do something that is downright asinine! The only people who are hurt from this boycott are the business owners who have very little say in the price of gasoline. If you really want to make a dent in how much you pay at the pump, the following are your only options:

1) Carpool so you consume less and spread the cost over several people.
2) Don't drive! Public transit is available in all major metropolitan areas, so take advantage of this opportunity if it is available and convenient.
3) Demand that the government stop subsidizing inefficient energy sources, or anything at all for that matter!

My favorite option is #3. Our tax dollars are being thrown away because these extremist environmentalists are throwing hissy fits over our wastefulness while they ignore the fact that ethanol is just as wasteful, if not more, than fossil fuels! Corn is a very demanding crop, not only on the farmers, but the land and resources as well. It depletes the soil of the majority of its nutrients, requires much more water than most crops and provides only a fraction of the energy per gallon as compared to gasoline. So even with its cheaper price per gallon, ethanol costs more to use than regular gas, and that's only because it's being subsidized. Once their window of opportunity is gone, I predict that the cost of ethanol will be at or higher than that of gasoline. And let's not get into the fact that it is effecting more than just the gas market. Because so many farmers are switching over to this "cash crop," thanks to government subsidies, less feed corn and other crops are being planted. In turn, this is pushing up the cost of other produce and eventually the price of meats that are fed on corn. And don't forget about wind and solar energy, because these require government subsidies, too!

It is time that we take a stand and give Big Government a slap in the face for being the Big Idiots that they are! If I want my money to go to a certain cause, I will send it there. Stop taking my money and deciding where it goes! That's what charities and the private sector is for. If something needs to be subsidized, then it would never survive on the free market. And until we are operating in a free market, gas prices will continue to rise rapidly. If Exxon, BP, Conoco, etc know that we are willing to pay $X, then they will charge $X. So stop bitching about how much Big Oil is making, start bitching about how Big Government is taking our gas money and wasting it on not-so-environmentally-friendly energies.

~ steph