It’s time for action on rising gas prices

When are we going to do something about gas prices?
Our editorial cartoonists are having a field day with this scary story at the gas pumps. We had one showing a pawn shop in the rear of the service station for motorists to hock watches and jewelry to pay for gas, now averaging close to $1.75 per gallon and hovering around the $2 mark in many urban areas. Maybe we had it coming, with all of our gas-guzzling SUVs and our refusal to get serious about economic transportation. Currently, our government is doing little to put pressure on oil producers, and nobody is even suggesting we tap into our strategic reserve. You would think this would be a big issue in the presidential campaigns by this time, but it’s not; at least not yet. For his part, Sen John Kerry pitches conservation and renewables but opposes drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and coastal waters, except for existing operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Bush administration is not saying much.
Some time ago as the war in Iraq was getting under way, some were saying the country’s vast oil supply would help alleviate the problem, but oil production hasn’t even begun to reach helpful levels in that country.
Our energy policy gets a lot of lip service, and that’s about all. The situation is somewhat like the climate we found in the past couple of years in corporate American when CEOs were putting out phony economic reports while skimming off millions in stock sell-offs. If it’s not hurting the rich, it’s not a problem.
It is hurting working Americans who are shelling out so much money for transportation that their paycheck is stopping far short of what it used to fund.
Until our government determines this is a priority, we probably should trade in the SUVs for more economical transportation, cut down on our travel and review the candidates’ position on this matter during the next election.by Albert Dozier