Legislation to control gas prices in Michigan is a nice idea, but it won't help anything after the hurricane damage to refineries is fixed.
The Michigan-based group People Against Uncontrolled Motor Vehicle Fuel Pricing - or PUMP - is rallying for a price restriction measure on the 2006 ballot, which would limit price increases to Mondays. The restriction would allow prices per gallon to rise one day and during the rest of the week prices can either fall or stay the same.
PUMP? How do you take a group with that sort of acronym seriously?
PUMP leader Reginald Patterson warns potential voters of the dangers of unexplained price hikes, especially after both hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit the Gulf Coast and Texas region. He said in The State News article, "Proposal could restrict raising gas prices" (SN 9/26), "If this were in place, those things would have never happened."
Patterson sounds just like a disgruntled citizen in charge of a grassroots group with a funny acronym for a name.
The damage to oil refineries caused by the hurricanes is a logical and legitimate, however unfortunate, reason to raise gas prices. Before the hurricanes, gas prices were high but most likely would have stabilized. There is always the possibility of price gouging on the part of some gas stations, but most of it feeds off the concept of supply and demand.
Many analysts fear that if prices are capped, consumers will be led to believe there is no scarcity in supply. This might increase a demand our nation's current supply cannot accommodate.
At least twice now, President Bush has announced crude oil has been taken from the Strategic Petroleum Reserves to relieve the current energy crisis. The reserves serve the purpose of aiding an emergency, but how will it be restocked in case another national emergency occurs?
Many of the about 45,000 students at MSU go home on the weekend or use their cars to go to work after classes. If tuition and parking on campus weren't enough to pay for, there are also the high gas prices. For these students and citizens in a similar predicament, it would be a relief to have prices fall. But the long-term consequences might be a gas shortage.
This might be the best time to look into alternative fuels, such as ethanol, biodiesel and hydrogen cells. The House Democrats are currently working on legislation to give tax incentives to retailers who buy alternative fuel equipment.
Now is the time for environmental lobbyists to really push for the alternative fuels. Such bio-based fuels would be renewable and better for the environment, which are both prevalent issues.
Right now, there is no sign of gas prices falling to pre-hurricane levels, but once repairs in the Gulf Coast progress this will change. Until then, citizens need to ride it out and not rally for a possible solution in 2006.
