Comments Ray has made

  • High Prices are uncomfortable, but Unavailability

           I get a kick out of those chain mail protests about the price of gas.   They are all flawed because they simply MOVE CONSUMPTION from one company to another or from one day to another.  What they ultimately do is PROVE to the Oil Companies that our squirming is futile.  These companies keep accurate records of our gas consumption so they know that we will gobble it up at practically any price.   They are just opportunists taking advantage of a tight market (unrestrained Capitalism).

          The only way to REALLY gain control of the cost AND the availability of Oil is to impose a Gas Tax that HOLDS the price around $5 per gallon.  This tax would accomplish these FIVE mutually supportive goals:

          1)  Capture the profits resulting from "supply and demand" forces which are driving the pump prices to where they are now and return them to the populace.
           Currently, the Oil Companies collect this windfall.  If we (the public) were to capture the excess instead, we could return it to ourselves in the form of:   a) Tax Rebates to the poor & middle classes, to farmers, truckers, cabbies and the like.   b) Pay for better quality roads (like those in Europe) so we don't have to suffer through "Orange Barrel Season" EVERY YEAR.   c) Subsidize Public Transportation to the point where there are frequent stops at all the popular routes, thus bringing that service to the level of "convenient".

          2)  Provide PRICE STABILITY.
            The price of Gas would be set by the government and the tax rate would be adjusted to keep it steady.  This would give us the needed constancy to allow us to plan our budget without the worry of fluxuating cost.  It also would tend to stabilize the cost of food and commodities and would minimize risks in business investments.

          3)  Cause real CONSERVATION to arise.
            The high cost at the pump would have a psychological affect on our attitude toward fuel consumption.   We would respond by altering our driving, buying and living habits.  Also, those who lower their actual consumption (by driving less or driving efficient cars) would make out better because they would get the SAME TAX REBATE as the gas guzzlers.  This "Free-Choice" driven conservation would then help resolve the looming energy crises by:  a) creating STRONG demand for fuel-efficient cars & trucks, thus coaxing the Automobile companies to develop and produce them (there are a lot of efficient technologies now that are not implemented simply because the public doesn't want to pay extra for them).   b)  Cause society to make long-term efficient choices like living closer to their workplace and using bicycles and motorcycles more often.  c) Spur innovations in efficient products and practices.

          4)  Increase the supply of Oil ...AND increase the length of time that Oil is available.
            Simple market forces (expressed individually by each of us) would drive consumption drastically lower, making it easier for current oil production rates to keep up.  The fundamental problem underlying this entire "crises" is that Oil is a finite resource.  Every year many of the best and easiest Oil Wells dry up and we have to go farther and drill deeper for what is often lower quality crude. ... all while the world demand continues to rise.  Now, in Canada, we are digging up "Tar Sands" and wasting huge volumes of Natural Gas to bake the oil out of it.  The net gain is very low.    We are about at the point where it is physically impossible to increase production as fast as we want to consume oil.
           However, it is estimated that we could cut our consumption IN HALF in the U.S. by implementing currently available technologies.  That would extend our supply by about double.  In the long run, that would prevent what is by far the MOST SERIOUS PROBLEM with Oil: AVAILABILITY!!!    We complain about having to pay $3 for a gallon of gas, but so far it has always been easy to find.   If we continue on our present course, we are going to enter the ERA OF SCARCITY unprepared.   Then we will come to appreciate the true value of Oil.   By slowing consumption now, we would wade into this inevitable era more slowly, thus having more time to adjust.  The way we are currently going however, we will slam into this era with few provisions.  The social consequences would be unbearable for all but the rich elite.   LIVING IN A WORLD WITHOUT PLENTIFUL OIL is the most serious problem facing mankind in this century.   It leads to wide disparities in wealth; to extreme poverty and widespread famine ...these in turn lead to global social upset and the threat of anarchy.

         5) Slow the rate of Global Warming.
           The connection between fossil fuel consumption and the Global Warming resulting from the accumulation of exhaust (carbon dioxide) in the atmosphere is becoming apparent.   We need to drastically slow the rate of "burning" in order to stop the rapid climate changes that are now showing up everywhere (Melting at the North & South Poles, larger storms and hurricanes, rising Ocean levels, Deserts forming where it used to be fertile, floods increasing in formally arid lands).  Next time you are traveling, or just standing by a main road or intersection, look around and realize that this unending stream of traffic you see is occurring at most other roads and intersections ALL DAY, EVERY DAY, over most of the world!  That is a lot of exhaust!!!

          Of course, this Gas Tax plan requires that we elect COMPETENT and TRUSTWORTHY government officials.   The current bunch is too concerned with holding their job to risk proposing this idea because it is perceived as very unpopular.  That is why "we the people" will have to get our heads out of the sand and reach a level of understanding that leads us to clamor for a realistic solution, even if it is inconvenient.

          Ultimately society is only as good as its constituents.  Democracy, by itself is not a panacea.  Good democracy requires concerned informed citizens who are willing to actively participate in their government (examine issues, vote intelligently and regularly, protest when things go astray) AND to make sacrifices for the long term good.

          I suggest we pass this email around because it contains a real solution to the Energy Crisis.  The others are just smoke screens that keep us busy while living in denial.  If we are going to guide our democracy in the best direction, we need to have a deeper grasp of the situation.

    Ray Herrmann

    On Gas prices posted 3 years, 7 months ago 28 Responses

  • Man and The Environment - Where to go Next

         As a species that is growing rampant throughout every habitable piece of land, we must recognize that we are crowding out many other species, and as such, we are destabilizing the ecosystem.  We need to get a grip on our own population growth.  To act in this issue we need to declare boundaries such that we don't ravage every area.

         It is the nature of every living organism to expand its niche until it becomes filled and external factors limit further growth.  This usually creates high discomfort at the boundary... starvation, disease...    We are so much more adaptable that all other species that we are able to expand our envelope and our numbers into practically every corner of the planet.  If left unchecked, we will cram ourselves into these corners until nature limits us, collapsing much of the ecosystem in the process.

        Along with our great adaptability should comes broad self-realization and the recognition of a great responsibility we have toward our Global Home and all its species.  We need to self-impose limits on our occupation such that we maintain a comfortable balance of nature.

        With this in mind, the first thing we should do is to STOP OUR PHYSICAL EXPANSION.  We will otherwise grow right up to the edges anyway, so why not draw the boundary when WE still have control of it?  

        The second thing we should do is LIVE RESPONSIBLY.  By that I mean we adjust our lifestyle to maximize the return on consumables while MINIMIZING their consumption.  Examples are: Building fuel-efficient cars & trucks, heavily insulating our homes & workplaces, recycling as much as possible...and working to advance the technologies needed to perfect these undertakings.

        The third thing we need to do is actively work to REDUCE OUR POPULATION.  By this, I don't mean we should enforce birth control or promote abortion.  What we can do, and what has shown to work over & over, is to work to bring all peoples up to a standard of life-awareness and life-expectation of fulfillment that they choose for themselves to limit their children.   The "Westernized" Nations demonstrate that this attitude will indeed result in birth rates that don't even make up for the losses.

        I have not projected these "negative" birthrates onto a global population, but I will venture to guess that once all Nations reach this state, the population of the World could drop by two thirds in 300 to 600 years.  The beauty is that we can achieve the reduction without stepping of our individual freedoms.  It is my guess that this planet could comfortably support about 2 billion people indefinitely.   There is no need to try to have all of us living at the same time!

         As Americans we have distorted the notion of "Freedom" to mean an endless pursuit of unbridled CONSUMPTION.  Well, the days of the Pioneers are gone.  We have covered our land coast to coast.  We have long since escaped the persecutions of the homeland.   We have wallowed in the newfound riches and lack of bounds.   But along the way we have forgotten that freedom also requires responsibility, both to ourselves and to others.  We have diverged from a path of physical, intellectual, and spiritual growth and instead find ourselves competing against our neighbor (who really doesn't care) to show off our status with a display of behemoth vehicles parked at massive homes.  We gorge ourselves on practically everything edible, without restraint... we are lost but try to hide the fact by persistently searching in the same places.   We have become COLLECTORS of wealth but not ENJOYERS.   The emptiness of Consumerism is starting to dawn on us, even as we resist.

        It is time for Mankind to take charge of himself and move onto a path that truly leads to fulfillment.  We humans are blessed with great mental and physical attributes.  We need to use them to redefine our niche such that it comfortably melds with the habitats of all the creatures sharing our planet.  

    Ray Herrmann

    On Whither the environmental movement? posted 5 years ago 4 Responses