Can You Afford To Ride?
In our Country right now, we are battling through a difficult debate about the best way to lower the price of oil. In fact, many politicians are just acting down right childish in their efforts to come up with real solutions to a problem in which I think is fairly easy to solve. Surely you’ve been affected in some way or the other by high fuel prices. When I was in high school, I remember gas prices being in the mid 80’s per gallon. Yes, that’s less than a dollar per gallon and hard to believe, I know! In fact, I used to put three to five dollars of fuel in the tank of my car and could be content for nearly a whole week in those glorious days. Furthermore, you could fill up your ATV and go ride from sun up till sun down for less than $4.00 total. Those were the good ole days indeed and we may never see them again unless we wake up as a Nation and do something about it.
Today as I write my column the circumstances seem bleak and appear to be getting worse by the day, as fuel prices have risen up to and even over $4.00 per gallon. The rise in the price of fuel is causing all kinds of issues here in the United States for families who are just trying to get by. It’s not just affecting the liquid that makes your car, truck or ATV combust and run, but it’s affecting the price of groceries and any other products a person might need for survival or for carrying on life, as we’ve always known it. And as you might have guessed, it’s hurting the ATV enthusiast in devastating ways as well. And my larger concern is that it could get worse.
Maybe this will sound selfish to some, but I’m extremely aggravated at how this is already hurting the ATV community. It’s costing us an arm and a leg to transport our machines to riding areas or events in our haulers, it’s costing approximately $16.00 just to fill up one tank in the ATV alone and as a result many of us are forced to stay home rather than getting out and experiencing life in the ways in which we enjoy. And the interesting part about it all is that it does not have to be like this. There is a solution to this problem, but many of our politicians are sucking up to environmentalists who are just distorting the truths for their own personal agendas. In the meantime, we the people are the ones that are suffering and being punished.
I among many others believe that the solution is to drill here and drill now! This would lessen our countries dependency on foreign oil and would allow the price of fuel to drop tremendously. Many specialists claim that we have a ton of oil in the U.S. just waiting to be extracted. A study recently completed by Rand Incorporated states that the U.S. Oil Shale Resources are three times larger than the current oil reserves in Saudi Arabia, yet we are not allowed to touch it thanks to our Congress. Here is another little known fact that might get you a bit angry; I know it did for me! Cuba and China recently agreed to work together to drill for oil on the waters that surround Cuba. That’s just 90 miles off the coast of the United States. As of the time I am writing this, the drilling has not started, but the preparation to do so is already underway as China has been shipping the equipment over to Cuba. The part that really infuriates me is that our own United States Congress will not allow us to drill off the coast of the United States, which would really help relieve our own citizens from needless suffering. These politicians and nut job environmentalist argue that it will destroy wildlife and such, but that’s simply not the truth. Just about every country on the planet earth that has oil reserves and the technology to drill do so. Now how is it right that we do not have the right to extract our own resources and are left to the mercy of purchasing from other countries that most often do not consider us their friends?
Ok, so what’s the truth about all the destruction talk that some claim will be caused if we were to drill here at home? Some politicians and environmentalist would like for you to believe that drilling for oil will eventually cause an oil spill, which will in turn kill helpless animals. But when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast States, it destroyed all of the oil rigs in the Gulf without any significant damage from the spilling of oil. The truth is that we’ve become better at extracting and refining oil in the last thirty or more years, and the slight possibility of killing animals should not keep us from seeking to be energy independent from Nations who literally hate America (which is another issue for another day). We are only punishing our own selves by doing so, and America will continue to suffer if we can’t learn to wean ourselves off of foreign oil. And yes, that means us ATV guys will be greatly affected in the long run. After all, ATV’s are powered by gas burning engines and so are the vehicles that transport them. So call your Congressman and let him know you want to drill here and drill now!
But before I leave you, let’s set the record straight for the future. I totally believe that while we drill responsibly, extract oil carefully and bring the prices for fuel back to an affordable amount, we should continue seeking out new ways and sources for energy. It makes sense to me, and will only improve our lives in the here, now and the future. Wouldn’t you agree? I hope all of you can still afford to ride! Let me know what your thoughts on this subject are by sending them to atvrider@sourceinterlink.com.