Published: April 26, 2006
Headlines like “Gas Prices Rise to Record Highs” have hit the stands far too many times to count in the past year.
In other words, it’s just old news. People should be past the complaining stage and be thinking of ways to reduce our oil dependency, but it seems that every time it gets to the breaking point, the tumult just dies down.
Then, a few weeks later- it’s a national gas price sensation.
The newest tactic by desperate consumers is to demand that the prices be taken care of at a state level.
Here in Florida, residents have begun to demand that the government provide tax relief on gas. Under current Florida regulations, that is 14.9 cents a gallon at the state level and then up to 18 additional cents in local taxes.
People seem to believe that cutting taxes on gas will provide them with relief. It’s tantalizing to think that we could be able to pay $2.80 a gallon or less if the taxes were lifted.
But to do so would be incredibly short-sighted. The consensus is that prices will keep rising. How long would the relief last until we were paying the same amount as before? A month? A week? And at what price to our state?
It’s time to face the fact that oil just isn’t cheap anymore. Our best course of action is to exert enough pressure on the industry to provide us with alternative means of fuel.
And that will come through true desperation for change- not band-aid solutions.