The Gasoline Follies -or- Tessie Climbs On Top of Her Soap Box Again

As sure as God made little green apples, when gas prices rise newspapers begin writing stories about how lucky we are in the U.S. to be paying the prices we do. Relative to many parts of the world, these articles claim that our $4.00 per gallon gasoline is a bargain.

Does this make you feel better about the situation, Dear Reader? When you read these articles, do you say to yourself, “Oh, well, then, all is clear to me now. Thank goodness this article was written to open my eyes and make me understand that my irritation over these high gas prices is unreasonable. Now I don’t feel so bad about having to cancel my health insurance just so I can afford to drive to work so I can at least eat beans and pay rent.”

These articles are offered as an implicit public service - an effort to help the suffering American consumer “keep things in perspective.” But when your perspective is a hard choice between food or gas, this type of article is not helpful. High gas prices are just another unpleasant fact of life at the moment. Constantly reading about how “lucky” we are to be paying only $4.00/gallon just makes this reality more unpleasant (and irritating). Right here and now I have to deal with $4.00 per gallon gas prices, and these articles don’t really do anything to change that.

Plus, I think that these articles are just plain wrong about “perspective.” These articles don’t address the reality that the cost of living and wages are much different from country to country. Whether you’re paying $9.85/gallon (Oslo), $4.00/gallon (U.S.) or .12/gallon (Caracas), for the regular everyday people of all these places, these prices are probably a hardship. To a person making $2.00 a day, .12 per gallon is just as hard to swallow as the person making $100.00 per day and paying $4.00 or more per gallon.

The implication that we in the U.S. are somehow unreasonable to be so “whiny” about paying “only” $4.00 per gallon is what I find incredibly exasperating. $4.00 per gallon gas is NOT a relative bargain; it is just as expensive in relation to Mr. Average American Joe’s wages as .12 per gallon gasoline probably is in relation to Mr. Average Venezuelan Joe’s wages. From my own perspective I believe this to be true because I happen to be Mrs. Average American Joe, and it’s my job around here to pay the bills every payday. Those fuel bills stink!

Though irritating, these articles nonetheless contain interesting facts. This story from the Los Angeles Times gives us the highest price and the lowest of a gallon of gasoline around the world. It also points us to an official U.S. government website that details lots of interesting facts about gasoline and why it is priced the way it is in the United States. I especially enjoyed the graph that charts average retail gasoline prices from January 2006 to the present. It’s good to see from this chart that gas prices fall every once in a while - they don’t always just go up, up, up.

The section “A Primer on Gasoline Prices” contains good, straightforward info on what makes up the price of a gallon of gasoline. Keep in mind that this info is based on 2007 gas prices, an eternity ago as far as rising fuel costs are concerned.

American consumers get blamed for this gas-price crisis because the media likes to imply that Americans have a deeply held belief that every one of us has a natural born right to a Hummer and a 40′ RV. The reality of what I see around me is that most people are doing their best to cope with these high fuel prices. Public transportation, walking, bicycles, and small cars are all becoming increasingly popular.

Since this blog is supposed to offer Ideas for Frugal Living, here are some things my little household does to save on fuel costs: fill up my tank once a month (and make it last!), avoid dashing out to the grocery store when I run of things like bread, milk, and dog biscuits (I either do without and wait to make a big shopping trip, or make these things at home as I need them), turn off my air conditioner for a big chunk of the day. My husband’s request to telecommute five days a month has been granted, and we have even discussed buying a home closer to his work. From little things to big, I see that Americans are taking these fuel prices seriously, and doing what they can with the resources at their disposal to be responsible citizens of the world.

While I think that the American public is trying hard to do their part, and should actually be commended for responding so quickly to this crisis, I also think that our Leadership and Industry are not doing all that they can with their immense resources to contribute to the relief effort. I hear a lot of excuses and finger-pointing, but that’s about it. Maybe we little folk are complaining about the high cost of gas, but I think we have a right to. We aren’t just complaining, we’re trying to do something about it. At our core we Americans are very commonsensical, and so we are doing what we can for ourselves because there is no indication so far that industry and government leaders are truly willing to help us.

So I say: Big Media, Big Oil, Big Auto, and Big Government: Meet us half way! Stop talking about the situation, and do something!

The End.