SPECIAL FEATURE: Strategic oil reserves, etc.

So, I know, I should be writing about Ron Paul, but I didn't really feel like it, because I really felt like writing about oil (yet people still don't understand why I would make a terrible presidential candidate...). So, recently the president has decided to tap the strategic oil reserves in order to alleviate the rise in gas prices. In theory, it should help the economy and make life easier, but I can't help but be a bit disappointed by this decision. Maybe it's because I don't drive, but I feel like, by making gas prices cheaper, we're only extending the problem. The big oil lobby is super powerful, but they can only go within the bounds of what congress can do. Now, I am a huge proponent of science and technology and such. Congress can fund science, and that would be incredibly helpful, but science does not need congressional funding to progress. Now, the first thing to address is that, though oil is being constantly formed, it takes millions of years to form, and it does not take us millions of years to pump it. In other words, we only have so much oil, and it's going fast. Now, basic supply and demand curves will tell you that that means that prices are going to go up. How high do they have to get before mainstream (non-environmentalist) Americans realize that it's not the best way to power our cars? Well, if we keep going on this trend, we will end up with a societal reversal. Henry Ford made cars affordable, and I guess Big Oil is making them unaffordable again. Then again, there is no way that we can keep the average American able to afford to drive without a huge societal change. With what is currently scientifically possible, it is easy to make environmentally sustainable cars. By the way, (tangent alert) I'm not talking about electric or hybrid cars. Where do you think that electricity comes from? In Oregon, it's a little better since we use a lot of hydro power, but still, the batteries are made of plastic (AKA oil) and nasty chemicals are have to be replaced every 10 or so years, and they are shipped in on gas-guzzling airplanes from eastern Canada. I've heard every explanation from them being better than regular cars but still not good to that they're worse than Hummers. In any case, best case scenario, they only sustain us for a little longer. We will actually have to change how we think about cars. Unfortunately, batteries are the only way to store energy, but we can change how we think about batteries once we change how we think about charging batteries. Now, one idea that I've had since I was about 4, and I still don't get why they don't implement, is that we should attach wind turbines to cars. Cars create their own wind, don't they? If we do that in conjunction with solar panels and thermopiles and really any environmentally or mechanically-based power source, all hooked up to batteries, I don't think that gas would be necessary anymore. But cars would have to look different. They would likely all have to be more aerodynamic, and they would have to have all sorts of gadgets on the outside that might be off-putting to car lovers. In addition, they might not go as fast. That will take a lot of getting used to, especially in America (besides Berkeley) where 1:00 actually means 1:00. It can be done, but it will take getting used to. In other words, it will take patience. Now, we're Americans. If there's one thing we can't stand, it's being patient and getting used to something and living with less. Jimmy Carter's presidency was killed when he said that Americans would have to live with less. But we're at a point where we have to choose between living with less or living with way less. The option of giving nothing up is gone. Now, of course, I looked at this from a solely economic and practical standpoint. I could go into all of the environmental issues which I am really interested in, but that would be unnecessary at this point. The point is, we're never going to switch to sustainable cars until gas prices become ludicrous, because not enough Americans care about the environment or what will happen in the future. So, instead of caving in, we should let gas prices get ludicrous, and so then we might find something better.