Stop Your Whining!

I cannot hear a newscast these days without a story about the high cost of gas! It is about time! Our gas prices have been artificially low for years. Now, I hear that it is something that is going to be causing people to change their driving habits. (One person interviewed said he was turning in his Cadillac for a Toyota.)

Good! We need to drive less. We need to develop fuel-efficient cars. We need to both conserve energy and find less harmful ways of expending energy.

Living in London for a while I can tell you that in Europe, they pay a lot more for gas than we do. The total garage near The Villa in Thames Ditton had petrol for just over a pound a litre.

So... Let's see… There are 1.9974 US Dollars to the UK Pound. So a Litre of Petrol that costs £1.029 would run $2.06. But that's for a Litre… we gas by the gallon. There are 3.785412 Litres to the Gallon, so that's $7.78 per gallon!

So with gasoline at $3.30 per gallon and everyone is whining, I wonder what will happen when it gets up where it is everywhere else in the world! If the high price of gasoline causes you to give up your obscenely large vehicles (does one person driving to work really need a Hummer?) in favor of something more realistic (which is not to say more earth-friendly) then I say great! Let's tighten our belts and push up the price a bit more!

I know I will feel safer on the roads with a few less of the idiot brigade in their California Godmobiles acting as if they are the only person on the road. Maybe if you drove a more sensible car you'd remember that there are others of us out there on the road with you!

Wherever you are today, I hope you have a great (whine-free) day!

Don Bergquist – April 20, 2008 – Lakewood, Colorado, USA