Hang onto your wallets - gas prices are likely to rise at least $.50/gallon by this summer, but not because of the price of oil. There is an additive that is required by law to put into gas mixtures to help them burn away completely. The cost of that additive has gone up from $.77/gallon to over $3.00/gallon recently, which is what will cause the spike in the price of gas.
I just want to pass along the real reason for the cost increase before it happens - who knows what crazy explanation will be put out there! The point I want to communicate to you is this: the root cause for this is environmentalists who buy the myth of man-made global warming.
If it weren't for environmentalist wackos, we wouldn't have to have dozens of different formulas, severe regulations for transitioning between gasoline blends as the year goes through weather cycles, and...you got it...additives to do things that will 'save' the environment.
This is yet another example of how the hoax that is man-made global warming WILL hit YOUR pocketbook.
There's my two cents.
2 comments:
Seriously?!? Seriously?!?
The "root cause" of gasoline prices spikes is "environmentalist wackos" who believe in global warming?
A few problems:
First, the additive you refer to is alkylate which was only recently introduced to replace MTBE. Why was MTBE replaced? Because it's potentially cancer-causing and it was LEAKING INTO GROUNDWATER SUPPLIES! Alkylate is not the only additive. Ethanol or alcohol work ok too.
Second, guess who produces alkylate for use in gasoline...oil refineries. Guess who owns oil refineries...oil companies. They've been accused (but obviously deny) shorting the production of alkylate.
Third, the requirement for additives wasn't just a "global warming" thing (if it was at all). The additives for summer blends were required to allow gasoline to burn more completely in higher temperatures. True, this does supposedly reduce the pollution from cars (and car "pollution" is not limited to "global warming" gases--where do you think that nasty layer of smog in LA comes from?), but it also helps maintain the integrity of cars, because the easier evaporation in the summer can gunk up fuel lines, etc. without the additives.
The bottom line is that the additive issue is WAY more complicated than your "all the crazy environmentalists are out to steal from us!!!" rhetoric makes it out to be.
And, one Biblical thought to consider when questioning whether the rapidly growing profits and continuing desire for more by big corporations may have bad consequences:
1 Timothy 6:10
"For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil."
Corporations exist for the sole purpose of "loving money" (i.e. accumulating profit). Maybe we shouldn't be so quick to grant them immunity on any kind of wrongdoing.
I'm glad you asked these things, Anonymous. Rather than addressing your points specifically (because I'm no expert about the details involved here), I want to address the larger scope of your comments.
I certainly don't hold corporations immune from wrongdoing. But, I do recognize that business is the engine of economic prosperity, and that you can't separate the success of business from the success of individuals.
First, you insinuate that big business -- in this case, the oil companies -- is deliberately shorting the production of alkylate to drive up costs. Why would they do that? They can just raise the price of their refined product. They do it all the time, for the flimsiest of reasons. Regardless, the price ultimately comes down to supply and demand. If Americans are willing to pay $5.00/gallon, they'll charge $5.00/gallon. Why wouldn't they? Would McDonald's charge $10.00 for a cheeseburger if people would pay that much? Of course! But they don't, because people wouldn't pay that much. It's the same with gasoline, and any other product or service.
[On a side note, if you really want to drop the price of gasoline, you should petition the government to cut back the taxes we pay for every gallon of gas - I believe it's somewhere around 40 cents of every dollar. Most of the rest goes to production and development, and only a few cents of every dollar actually make up profit. When we hear about billions of dollars in record profits, you're talking about HUGE volume, and that gets back to...supply and demand.]
Now, you also quote the Bible about the profits made by large companies. That's a very slippery tactic to use. Let me explain. While businesses do exist to make money, what else do businesses provide besides their particular good or service? Jobs. Insurance. Stability. If the business makes more profits, it can expand, which increases wages, adds more jobs, and expands the economy of the area in which it operates. You seem to be implying that businesses should not make a profit, or at least not too much profit. First, I would question who gets to determine how much profit any company is entitled to earn - that's not the freedom America offers, and not something that anyone outside the free marketplace should decide. Ask anyone who lived through Carter's efforts at government-controlled prices back in the late 1970's and see how that worked out for them.
Anyway, what happens to a business that doesn't make a profit? It goes under. Jobs are lost, retirement and stock values disappear, and families experience real crisis. Now, I understand your point about the love of money being the root of all evil, but I would caution you to read that again: the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. Not money itself. And besides, if it weren't for businesses developing alternative additives, we wouldn't have alkylate, ethanol, alcohol, or anything else that was safe to use! Businesses drive advancement, and that benefits everyone. Would you rather be driving your horse-drawn cart to work? Would you like to use candles instead of electric lights?
I would ask you: what's worse, to have a few greedy people atop a thriving company that provides thousands of jobs and stability for thousands of people, or for the stagnation that would result from curtailing profits in ANY industry, as well as the lower standard of life that would inevitably follow.
So, how does this apply to the environment? Follow the money. Every piece of legislation that has ever come out has involved the shackling of innovation and development of businesses, specifically targeting America. Every single one! Environmentalists have forced ridiculous regulations on all kinds of industries based on little more than feelings and emotions, when voluntary refinements and improvements would happen all by themselves because they make the product better, cheaper, more effective, etc. A perfect example is DDT in Africa. Environmentalist crusaders successfully got DDT banned around the world based on hype and hysteria rather than evidence. The result is that millions of Africans die from malaria every year, despite the fact that malaria could be almost totally eradicated with DDT, which has no detrimental side effects. That's just one example, and you'll find many more here on this blog.
So, back to gas. The same theory applies: follow the money. Why do we have dozens of blends of gasoline to accommodate all seasons and areas of the country? Why do refineries have to flush their entire facility when switching from one blend from the next? Are you telling me that all of these (and many other) regulations are actually necessary? I don't buy it. They are attempts by the anti-American environmentalist lobby to hobble the oil industry because of so-called global warming. By forcing further regulations, the government will extract more money (either from taxes, or from back-end penalties for missing quotas). It's really not that complicated. Again: follow the money.
This particular issue -- the additive -- may be way more complicated than I'm getting into, but the larger scope of the entire discussion is not.
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