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GUZZLING GAS IN AMERICA: ENVIRONMENT
IS PAYING
THE PRICE FOR INCREASES AT THE PUMP
By Allison
Keller
Traveling by car will be cost more this summer—at least $1.70 per gallon for gas. That is the average price at the pump this month, up 13 percent from just a year ago.
An estimated 30 million drivers will hit the road for Memorial Day weekend. With personal vehicles guzzling over 115 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel each year, the small spikes in gas prices are going create a large shock to the wallets of consumers, according to a Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) report.
“It seems like twenty dollars of gas goes so quickly now,” Don Shumen, a Marist commuter student said. “I feel like I’m filling up every day. A full tank isn’t lasting as long.”
The United States consumed an average of 19.5 million barrels of oil per day in 2000, according to the Department of Energy (DOE). Of that, 43 percent was used for motor gasoline. With each barrel containing 42 gallons of gasoline, the United States drained 360 million gallons of gasoline every day.
With the demand for gasoline in the United States being as high as it is, regions of the country are increasing their environmental standards for gasoline in order to reduce the amount of smog created by burning gasoline. Producing this cleaner-burning gasoline can cause problems in refining, distribution and storage, which, in turn, increases the cost of gas.
John Cook, director of the petroleum division of the DOE’s Energy Information Administration, stated that these were understandable increases.
“The result of this targeted approach to air quality has been to create gasoline market islands,” Cook said, during his address to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce on May 15, 2001.
The clean-burning requirements in each of these areas are unique to that individual area, and only a few refineries can produce specialized products. High demand, a supply problem at a refinery or a problem with a pipeline can cause pricing in these areas to surge.
However, environmentalists feel that these tight regulations are necessary. Yet, President Bush says that the regulations that former President Clinton had issued are slowing down oil production and ought to be changed.
“I worry about the fact that hard working people are paying high prices at the pump; it concerns me a lot,” the President said recently. “I also say we need to build more refining capacity. We need more supply.”
In a recent PBS special, President Bush blamed the Clean Air Act, a law, which requires different blends of fuel in different parts of the country. Making these blends, the president said, takes too much time and money and slows down production.
Meanwhile, American oil refineries are operating at the highest possible rate, just to meet the increased demand.
Environmentalists point out the fact that both the president and the vice president are former oil company executives.
“The answer isn’t looser regulations,” says Frank Setlock, biology teacher at Pope John XXIII High School, “it’s a change in the American lifestyle.”
However, with every region of the United States formulating it’s own policy, it becomes difficult to set nationwide standards. A metropolis, such as New York City or Los Angeles would need tighter standards than Topeka, Kansas.
In California, for example, the state government has set its own reformulated gasoline rules that are stricter than the federally mandated clean-gas laws. Thus, they pay a higher price for cleaner fuels. Yet, with the 2000 census reporting that California’s population was 33,871,64, the need for increased gasoline rules is obvious.
Conservation may provide a more logical solution to the war of gasoline prices. With organizations such as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) controlling the prices of oil, many people feel that the United States should tap into its domestic supply of oil. In January 2001 alone, the United States produced an estimated 181 million barrels of crude oil.
Even with the United States producing so much oil, it is still heavily dependent on foreign sources. In 2001, a bill was proposed in the U.S. Senate to open a portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska for oil development.
The ANWR was established in 1960 to protect the “unique wildlife, wilderness and recreational values” of the area. In 1980, Congress passed the Alaska Lands Act, which renamed the area and more than doubled its size. Today, the ANWR encompasses nearly 20 million acres, which is about the size of South Carolina.
The same act authorized the study of the oil and gas potential of the northern part of the Refuge, called 1002 Area. This region continues to get looked at as a possible oil-development sit. However, environmental groups say that any oil production would upset the natural ecosystem within the ANWR.
“The Refuge has been protected since the 60s,” Linda Haber, an environmental science teacher at High Point high school in New Jersey said. “It should remained protected long after I am gone.”
It’s still uncertain just how much oil exists under the ground of the ANWR. A 1998 analysis conducted by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) estimates that there are about seven billion barrels of profitable oil in the 1002 Area alone.
However, while the peace and harmony of the ecosystem may be important to some, the increase in gas prices is raising other concerns than just simply the environment.
Many people across the country are fearful of a reoccurrence of the 1977 gas shortage. Limitation on gas had reached an all time high when the government tightened restrictions to the point of monitoring the days at which people could fill up their tanks. Those who’s license plates end with an even number were able to fill up only on even days of the month, while those with odd plates were able to go on odd days.
Energy efficient cars are now hitting the streets of America. “Hybrids,” or those cars that use a joint form of gas and electric energy to power the car, are becoming more and more common. The concept of fuel cells and other forms of technology are being invented to reduce our dependence on oil and gas.
While the debate of gasoline prices continues to heat up, so do the temperatures. With the harbinger of summer, Memorial Day, looming around the corner, it is certain that the only thing that will change in regards to gasoline is an increase in prices. So, a word to the travelers: save up the nickels and dimes.