RELIEVING PAIN AT THE PUMP WILL TAKE TIME & EFFORT
Remember when gas was 50 cents a gallon? There might be some of you who can recall even lower prices during a time when a full-service attendant checked your oil and cleaned your windshield.
Why those days are gone is a complicated question, one that I’ll try to answer to some extent in this column.
The sad truth is gas prices aren’t likely to get much lower any time soon, if ever. World forces are having a profound impact on the law of supply and demand.
It’s hard for some of us to imagine why what’s happening in China and India could possibly affect Indiana, but it does. You see, increased mobility in those two countries is changing the world energy market. In India, fuel demand jumped by 7.3 percent in just a one-year time span. More people are driving there, which in turn, is literally driving demand at a time when oil refineries aren’t keeping pace.
Sometimes people act like we live in a vacuum, but like it or not, we all live in a global economy today. It’s important to remember gas prices aren’t just affected solely by what Americans do.
Meanwhile, refinery capacity in the United States has gotten weaker in recent years. In 1981, the U.S. had 324 refineries producing 18.6 million barrels per day. As of January 2007, there were only 149 refineries with an operable capacity of 17.4 million barrels per day.
So, we’re not producing as much gasoline during a time when demand for petroleum is at an all-time high. It’s no wonder, then, why the price has increased 50 percent over the past two years.
The two best remedies we have in battling our pain at the pump are (a) becoming more efficient and (b) creating alternative energy sources. While the first item is largely in your hands, the latter is something society and governments address. Your Indiana Senate did just that during the past legislative session.
In less than two years, Indiana has moved to a preeminent position in production of alternative fuels. As recently as January of 2005, Indiana had just one ethanol plant and no biodiesel plants. Today, 12 ethanol plants are in the planning or construction stages while four biodiesel plants are also operating or being built. Just a few weeks ago, Indiana celebrated the grand opening of the Louis Dreyfuss Agriculture Industries LLC biodiesel production plant near Claypool – the largest soybean-based production facility in the world – just a half hour west of Fort Wayne.
So there is hope. Who knows? This beautiful state of cornfields might just be a haven of energy production for the future.
Just as we needed to declare independence from England in 1776, I truly believe we need a similar united call for energy independence from the Middle East. I think we should support advancement of ethanol. I also believe we should take a serious look at diversification of our renewable fuel supply through solar and wind power, as well as pursuing safe uses of hydrogen vehicles.
We didn’t get into this energy situation overnight and we won’t emerge from it any time soon. But as I look around and see all of those ears of corn reaching up to the sky on a bright, sunny day, it’s comforting to realize Indiana is far from helpless where energy is concerned.
What do you think?
Please contact me at State Senator Dennis Kruse, Indiana Senate, 200 W. Washington Street, Indianapolis, IN 46204 or call 1-800-382-9467, or send e-mail to S14@in.gov.
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