As Americans living in this modern world of ours, we have many things to worry about. Terrorism, school, and work problems have only been a couple of things to lose sleep over. But now there is another thing to add onto your dish: oil prices.
Oil prices are at an all-time high right now, and there is little that the average consumer can do about it, other than weep as their wallets empty in exchange for a few miles of driving. But driving isn’t something that we do as a hobby anymore. Driving is an incredibly important form of transportation that some people are required to do in order to get from point A to point B (and on weekends, point C). Rising oil prices are a big issue right now, not only for consumers, but also for the government.
Last month, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Illinois) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee) sent a letter to George W. Bush concerning the rising price of gasoline, saying that “anyone who is trying to take advantage of this situation…should be investigated and prosecuted.” They also went on to say that an investigation should be done, as suspicions of price gouging were going around. They asked Bush to direct the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to order certain areas of the United States not to use expensive, but cleaner, gasoline.
Although nothing has been proven (as of yet) in the matters of price gouging, Bush has indeed done something. He has ordered a rollback of $2 billion in government assistance and tax breaks for oil companies over the next 10 years.
We at the Skyline View would like to applaud the White House for stepping forward and attempting to alleviate the problems of high gas prices. As students, driving to school is an important thing to do, especially when taking a bus is not a desirable option. Hopefully more things will be done to lower gas prices. But until then, start pinching those pennies.