by Steve James on Fri May 23, 2008 5:58 am
I'm sort of with Mike Strong on this. There's no reason why a company that produces something shouldn't be able to sell that product for whatever it wants. Otoh, the problem is that the product has become a virtual necessity.
Ok, nationalization is not as easy as it sounds. The nation would have to buy the oil companies or it would steal them. Either way, there'd be long legal battle and a huge settlement that the public would eventually pay for. But, suppose that, ultimately, the cost of gasoline/fuel could be kept down (btw, it's $1.50 in Moscow and .15 cents in Venezuela). What would happen in the US? People would go back to driving land yachts at 90 mph.
The problem is that we depend too much on fossil fuels. The solution is that we use less. Ok, I understand the problem of commuting in places like LA or Phx or LI, but that's why they invented buses. Otoh, I wouldn't argue against letting trucks, trains, ambulances, fire engines, sanitation trucks, etc., get gasoline at reduced prices. The same way senior citizens get discounts on public transportation.
Car companies won't produce the cars they can produce until the public stops buying the less efficient models. Imo, gas prices are still way lower than they should be, compared to many other countries. The oil companies aren't dumb; they could lower the price, and still make a huge profit. But, they see no reason to do so as long as we keep buying.
Figure about $8 per gallon for September. Could be the best thing that ever happened to the atmosphere.
"A man is rich when he has time and freewill. How he chooses to invest both will determine the return on his investment."