If you Drive it, You Buy It
Review of environmental awareness as of 2005
In the U.S there are very few alternatives to owning a vehicle. Even with the alternatives that exist, such as public transportation, fuel efficient vehicles, alternative fuels; these are few and limited in supply. The American public is still grasping the concept of a more fuel efficient society, one that doesn’t line the freeways with SUVs and large pickup trucks. This is certainly true in the Red State, where SUVs and pickup trucks are interwoven with the way of life and define the Texan. In response to Schnurman, the energy efficiency model that the U.S uses is failing and weighing down Americans with a worsening economy as a result.
To the middle class American, this has meant budgeting expenses, consuming fewer goods and cutting off travel expenses wherever they see necessary in their daily lives. It is true that Americans have adjusted to rising oil prices. As gas prices continue to descend, it is uncertain whether that will be the case in the near future. There is too much of a draw for U.S consumers not to consume and fuel the gas powered machine that the U.S has created. The aim is to spend, and there are now more retail and service jobs in the U.S than manufacturing jobs, which have gone overseas to foreign markets. Due to efforts for corporate companies to expand their locations, even within the U.S people are now obligated to travel longer distances from home to their work places.
U.S consumers traditionally reject the bringing forth of more centrally located communities. Traditionally the average American desires a house, a plot of land and at least two or more vehicles. With the worsening economy, even this standard of living is becoming difficult to maintain. The result is both husband and wife, sometimes children, taking on one or more jobs to afford this standard of living. Can we truly attribute all these problems to a lack of regulation in oil prices? Let the facts speak for themselves. Exxon Mobil made more in this year’s quarterly profit than the Gross National Product of Portugal. According to research done by Schnurman quoting from David Dropsey; he states that the S&P 500 will have a 15.4 growth in the third quarter. Schnurman insists that “without energy players, that would fall to 9.1 percent”. Some would ask who would benefit most from that increase. The middle class American certainly isn’t; there is no sufficient proof that it is.
Schnurman also states that oil companies “tend to slow production and sell more of their existing supply, delaying the refining of the lower-priced crude.” This means that oil companies make less oil to increase demand and profits, and that is more of a common practice than a mere tendency. Having discussed some facts, it is necessary for consumers to maintain their composure even under falling gas prices. A decrease in costs does not mean a permanent decrease. The American public cannot become complacent to the temporary solutions that oil companies offer at their own will. In order to halt a declining economy, grass roots efforts must be implemented if no federal action is taken.
As consumers, the American people must restructure their outlook on their own society. The development of smaller metropolises all interconnected by mass transit is a model that Canada and some European countries have followed. As a result, some countries have been able to afford free healthcare or healthcare provided through the government with a low tax percentage. This same approach could work on a larger scale; more and more smaller communities, more manufacturing jobs, more public transit. Instead of breaking the Treasury in half trying to improve other nations through the development of military arms, how much more beneficial would it be to improve the public transportation system. Were spending is not needed, there shouldn’t be. Instead of purchasing a large SUV, opt of the car that gives higher gas mileage. Commute on bicycle or on foot whenever the occasion presents itself. To corporate readers; do not try to corner the market in small communities. To small business owners; support one another and do not try to buy each other out. If there are more small business owners in smaller communities, there are more jobs and small business can take out corporate monsters instead of the opposite. To every town there should be stores, entertainment centers and businesses all in close proximity of each other. There should be an elimination of the need to get on a freeway to go to work, of five o clock traffic and an empty wallet at the fuel station. This is not merely singling out one sector of the U.S economy, it is singling out the future of the U.S economy.
Sounds like yesterday's news? I wrote this article in 2005 for my English Instructor. He gave me an F, but nor he nor many people were not aware of the relevance it has today.
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