GAS PRICES? Why Do They Keep Going Up, and What Can We Do About It?
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Once again, high gas prices are draining our wallets and making us crazy.
New standards are being put in place that may help curb the thirst for dollars by the oil companies, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, http://www.nrdc.org/action/.
"American consumers are already benefiting from the more fuel-efficient vehicle options available due to the current National Program requirements and will benefit more as the standards get stronger. By 2030, the new agreement will provide the equivalent of a $330 tax rebate to every American household," says Roland Hwang, NRDC transportation director.
Compared to today's average vehicle, a 54.5 mpg standard will save the average driver $6,800 over the vehicle's lifetime, with most drivers seeing benefits immediately in the form of reduced total monthly payments for the car and fuel.
But this kind of regulation could come to a screaming halt.
A bill introduced by two U.S. senators now under consideration would allow Congress to scrap any legislation designed to control any environmental problem.
The Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act (H.R. 10/S. 299), introduced by Rep. Geoff Davis (R-KY) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), would undo more than 100 years of safeguards by allowing just one chamber of Congress to block enforcement of existing statutory protections -- from worker safety, to public health, to Wall Street reform.
NRDC comments: "Passage of this bill would make Congress the required arbiter of every technical question and business dispute, and would allow a single chamber of Congress to stop any regulation, no matter what the facts showed. The REINS Act would effectively rewrite virtually every environmental and other regulatory statute, making their requirements unenforceable."
NRDC is urging consumers to voice their opposition to the REINS Act proposal.
The REINS Act would make it almost impossible to set standards critical to ensuring we have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, says Scott Slesinger of NRDC. "Blocking these public health protections would lead to tens of thousands of deaths, illnesses, and hospital visits, especially among children and the elderly. For example, blocking long-overdue standards to limit mercury emissions from power plants, industrial boilers, and process heaters for just one year could result in up to 23,500 premature deaths."
NRDC is an environmental action groups, boasting the grassroots power of 1.3 million members and online activists with more than 350 lawyers, scientists and other professionals.
The New York Times calls NRDC "One of the nation's most powerful environmental groups." The National Journal says NRDC is "A credible and forceful advocate for stringent environmental protection."
Although the Obama Administration is now considering releasing the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, measures have been taken in recent years to address America's energy gap.
We're now drilling more in this country than we have in nearly a decade, according to NRDC.
About $4 billion in tax breaks and other incentives go to oil companies each year.
Gas prices that are hitting new highs, and the economy is held hostage to global instability and an oil industry monopoly on our transportation system.
"There's nothing we can do to control the price of gas in America, because oil prices are set on a global marketplace," says NRDC.
"As we've seen, more drilling certainly isn't the answer, because that's done nothing to reduce prices at the pump. The only thing more drilling has done is increase profits for oil companies -- to the tune of $137 billion last year alone, a 75 percent rise since the year before. Who else got a 75 percent raise in the middle of a recession?
The fact is, the only way we can reduce how much we spend on gasoline is to reduce how much gasoline we use."
Our fundamental problem surrounding gas prices is a lack of choice, says NRDC.
Right now the average U.S. household buys more than 1,100 gallons of gas per year. At $4 per gallon, that means the average household spends $4,400 per year just on gasoline.
More efficient vehicles could help dramatically. Hybrid vehicles can cost about half as much to operate as conventional vehicles. New fuel economy standards that take effect this year can deliver thousands of dollars in gas savings to Americans who can afford new cars.
By 2025, the new 54.5 miles per gallon fuel standard will save consumers $4,400 over the lifetime of their vehicle. By 2030, the United States could save $200 billion as a result of the new standards.
New choices for fuel can help too. Electric vehicles now on the market, for example, can cost the equivalent of $1 per gallon at today's average electricity prices.
Americans who have the choice of walking, biking, taking public transportation, or telecommuting to work can skip trips to the gas pump altogether. According to a new report, switching to public transportation would save the average driver a whopping $10,120 a year.
Here's the problem though: Not all Americans have these choices. Many of us have no other choice than to drive to work, and pay out the nose for gasoline to do it.
NRDC has some suggestions:
Instead of continuing to give tax breaks to oil companies, why not channel that money to consumers to help buy more efficient vehicles or to fund research to build even better vehicles?
Instead of cutting public transit funding, why not invest in mass transit to make it more accessible to more Americans?
Instead of keeping ourselves captive to a single fuel choice -- oil -- why not help give Americans more choices, with policies that support vehicles that run on electricity or cellulosic biofuels that don?t deplete food stocks or degrade the environment.
Instead of eliminating programs that encourage biking, walking and sustainable real estate development, why not do more to foster these gas-saving alternatives?"
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"The BUZZ" - Read Feedback From Readers! |
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GGallagh Says:
On September 03, 2012
at 08:27 PM
Good work Rogers.
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Dave Rogers |
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