Gas Crisis 35 Years Later - No Difference - Who Remembers Gas Crisis of 1973 by Jerry Sacca
The plans for the first gas crisis started in August of 1973 as the Arab Nations would prepare for war with Israel. On October 17, 1973 the OAPEC (Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries) who were the Arab members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) announced they would no longer ship oil to countries that supported Israel, like the United States. Around this time OPEC members agreed to use their power over the world and become the world price setting instrument to raise the prices of oil throughout the world. OPEC cut production of oil and placed an embargo on all deliveries of crude oil to the Western world, including the United States and the Netherlands.
Not many Americans really understood what was happening to our economy as most thought that the oil companies were U.S. owned, very few people realized then that we no longer were a super power of oil production but rather a crude oil whore that sold out long ago. Little did we know this was the beginning of the end of an important segment in the American lifestyle as we knew of in the past. This would be the start of a major change in the U.S. automobile market and ripple through our economy to affect all Americans in ways that could not be imagined. This opened America's front door to a new wave of imported vehicles and left the U.S. auto manufacturers watching the compact cars drive by their showrooms as they could not change their traditional ways of production fast enough to produce higher MPG vehicles. The new generation of auto buyers who were part of the baby boomer generation got pleasure from going against the U.S. establishment and purchased foreign autos and mocked America along the way, what they didn't understand was that they were putting their brothers & fathers and eventually themselves in the unemployment line contributing to the loss of many American jobs. Needless to say we faced a recession that was a start of things to come for many years ahead.
Gas Crisis of 2005-2008....
If you can remember the date of about August 23, 2005 on a typical summer day the headline news reports were warning of a large tropical storm approaching the Gulf of Mexico. This tropical storm would strengthen to be named - Hurricane Katrina, and on August 29th Katrina would slam the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding coastal areas. After the hurricane was over there would be some damage to offshore oil drilling rigs in the Gulf. The oil companies who owned these rigs would blame Hurricane Katrina and Mother Nature for the next record setting $$$price increase of oil products in our history. After all a gouging price increase was long overdue for the oil companies and this was the perfect time to make windfall profits as they did in the 70's and this storm would give an opportunity to test how much the American economy could bear.
If you remember the first news reports during Katrina reported that oil production suffered slightly and these oil stations produced only 8-10% of our demand and at that time prices and supply was of no concern. Well within a few days after the storms passed, the oil companies kept raising the percentage of our dependence on these couple of damaged rigs. When said and done the companies claimed that these drilling rigs were producing 25% or more of our oil demand and the U.S. needed every drop of that oil and we would face a serious shortage immediately until new sources were found and repairs were made. As in 1973, the owners of the oil companies would prove again to us who really owns the oil world and they would take down the American economy by raising prices until a recession would cripple us again.
Here's what happened - Oil prices were relatively below $25/barrel in September 2003. Many small events would raise the prices gradually to reach over $60/barrel by August 11,2005, exceed $75 in the summer of 2006, fall to between $50 and $60/barrel in the early part of 2007, drastically rise, reaching $92/barrel by October 2007 and $99/barrel for December. On February 19, 2008, oil prices hit an all-time peak at $100.10 per barrel. So here we go again on a ride for survival on the oil barons cruise boat waiting to be dropped off deep in the ocean wherever or whenever they choose. We will pay for the increase in oil prices in every product and service we purchase and in our own daily travel expenses. So you ask are we being raped? Of course, and there is nothing we can do about it until our nation realizes that oil is a has been fuel and the supply will continue to drain down and prices will increase. We have been in this gas crisis for over 35 years, and we kept closing our eyes to not see reality. The rest of the world laughs at the U.S. when we cry about gasoline prices, because they are also being raped for the price of gas.
America loves those big gas-guzzling pickup trucks & SUV's and here we go again as in the 1970's blaming car manufacturers about why they haven't done something about more fuel efficient vehicles. It would be embarrassing for an American to own a Hummer with an electric engine. And all of the imports manufacturers have joined in with fuel thirsty suv's and pickups. Any American who wanted a car that could get at least 30 miles per gallon could have done so in the last two decades. But year after year, according to U.S. automotive sales histories, those cars were at the bottom of the market regardless of whether they came from Japan, the United States or Europe. Remember, OPEC will not come to the rescue. Wars & U.S. Military action on the soil of oil producing countries will not solve the problem. The only solution is to lower our use and dependence of oil fuels because they are depleting faster than can be harvested. No amount of money or drilling fields can solve the problem, only alternative fuel is the answer and we are becoming the prime targets for paying the high costs of exploration of new fuel substitutes. And I am sure we (Americans) can find the means and methods to develop new fuels before our fellow auto importers do, and I am sure we will sell out again to a foreign manufacturers.
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