High gas prices...are Big Oil & the Government really the bad guys?

You know, I was thinking the other day, that maybe the Big Oil Companies and the Government aren't really the bad guys as we've mostly made them out to be when it comes to high gas prices.

Now it hurts me to admit this, I think anyone who has ever visited my blog or knows me, knows that I'm a bit one-sided when it comes to this issue, and I'm certainly no big fan of the government. However, it occurred to me the other day as I filled my tank up at the price of $2.99 a gallon, where would we be today if we were paying $1.25 a gallon for gasoline as we were seven or eight years ago? Would we be buying hybrid cars, would we be discussing on a national level about alternative fuel sources and eco-friendly alternatives for power? I doubt we would be. We'd be driving our gas-guzzling SUV's and pick-up trucks without thinking about the money we're plopping down for the gas to run them. We wouldn't be looking for ways to wean ourselves off of our dependence on petroleum.

Now, if the Big Oil Companies were really in total control of the price of gasoline, and wanted to keep us dependent on them...wouldn't it behoove them to keep the price of gasoline low, so that we'd not be looking into other forms of fuel? I think it's going to take even higher prices for gasoline before the people of this country decide to take alternative fuels and eco-friendly vehicles seriously. A sustained price of $5.oo a gallon for gasoline is probably the minimum it would take to keep us on track to finding alternatives for petroleum. Let's face it, the minute gasoline drops a few cents, most people rush out to fill up their tanks and immediately take off on a trip or start driving around for no purpose other than feeling like they can.

If anything, the Big Oil Companies and the U.S. Government are helping to encourage the U.S. population to want these new alternative fuel sources and alternative vehicles. Because let's face it, if gasoline were to drop back to $1.25 a gallon, it wouldn't take two years for hybrid cars to go the way of the dinosaur, and alternative fuel sources like bio-diesel would become nothing more than a foot-note in the annals of history.