The House of Representatives voted a few days ago to blame someone else for their idiocy by
passing a bill to stop "price gouging."
"This is a first step in addressing the outrageous prices we are seeing at the gas pump," said bill sponsor Rep. Bart Stupak, Michigan Democrat. Prices in recent years have peaked at about the Memorial Day start of the summer driving season, but they could climb higher this year if hurricanes or conflicts in the Middle East or Nigeria disrupt supplies.
"This bill is all bark and no bite, and will do nothing to lower gas prices," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. "No American likes paying high prices at the pump. ... This bill could make the pain felt by consumers at the pump considerably worse."
Boehner also stated the immigration bill proposed was a piece of shit.
No really, he said that. Boehner also knows what the hell he's talking about, and hell, he's almost making me feel good about the Republican party. But perhaps it's worth examining why gas prices might go up.
The stupidest explanation is greed. Look, people are greedy, all the freaking time. That's normal. You're greedy for wanting that gas to cost as little as it can, for wanting everything on the internet to be free, for wanting there to never be any traffic congestion on the highway, for wanting to have your cake, eat it too, but not have to deal with the caloric intatke (not to mention the carbs). If greed raises prices, then what the hell causes them to fall? When gas gets down to $2 a gallon, does that mean the oil execs feel guilty or something? Maybe they're less greedy? If you actually believe that, I'm frightened you are reading this. Anyone that stupid shouldn't be given anything as powerful as a computer, or for that matter, a spoon.
But seriously, what harm could an anti-gouging bill do? Well, if there are shocks to the supply or the demand for oil, the market could not respond as it normally would, so it would force oil companies and gas station owners to either lose money or not sell, and guess which one they'll pick. This is called a price cap, and it creates shortages. Look at the 1970s - people cyphened gas from other people's cars, and they made locking gas tank caps. I mean, you thought Monica Lewinsky had low standards for what she put in her mouth! The president will wear sweaters and tell us we shouldn't have Christmas because of all the lights - Jimmy Carter actually did that. I mean, doesn't this strike you as a little silly?
But what else could cause high gas prices, if not for some conspiracy? Well there's the cost of crude oil itself, then it has to be refined, then it has to be delivered, then the gas station sells it, and the gas station owner and the oil companies have to make a profit, or else they wouldn't be in the oil business. Now, what happened in the last couple years to cause gas prices to rise?
Let me think . . . Here's a key reminder of why ethanol is expensive:
Ethanol is a solvent that picks up any gunk in tanks and readily blends with water.
Those properties could ruin a 9,000-gallon tank of gasoline at a huge cost to a retailer.
It costs up to $1,500 to clean tanks, said Kevin S. Kan, president and chief executive officer of American Auto Wash Inc. in Malvern, which operates 18 stations in the region, including 13 BPs that have converted to the ethanol blend.
Ethanol is logistically more complicated than the petrochemical it replaced - MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether. Refiners could blend MTBE into gasoline at the refinery and send the finished gasoline through pipelines to terminals.
But ethanol must be blended into gasoline at the terminal because it would mix with water if it were sent through pipelines, ruining the fuel. So, fuel terminals have to go through a similar process of cleaning tanks to store ethanol before it is blended.
They must also install blending equipment.
Yeah, that alone is going to make gas a lot more expensive. And keep in mind that Ethanol doesn't have nearly the pipeline network available for gasoline (in fact, the oil companies are trying to lobby Congress for it). So really, these ethanol additives are not a good idea right now; maybe a few years down the road if you're gonna complain about gas prices to consumers.
Another idea: just stop all the bullshit around ethanol that makes it so expensive. You've got a lot of regulation in the economy regarding how much corn people can grow, etc, as well as tariffs on foreign goods to raise the prices of domestic goods. You've gotta be kidding me if you think we need the government to tell farmers how much they can grow, etc. Ignore the caps, and people will grow more corn, partly for ethanol, partly for food, whatever will make money. People make good decisions when it's their own money in business, generally. Further, you can get sugar ethanol to do the job cheaper, or at the very least you could allow regular sugar to replace high fructose corn syrup. The tariffs on foreign sugar are the culprit here, believe it or not, and if you reduce or eliminate that, you'll see a reduce in demand at home, lowering the price, and more corn will be exported for those of you who think the trade deficit matters.
