Shortages & Price Gouging in Our "Just in Time" World

Letter I wrote to the editor of The Windsor Star, published September 7, 2005:

I'm fascinated how every increase in gas prices comes with its own narrative. Petrol for my car today, August 30, was $1.09/litre [$1.35/litre as of 9/7/05], and the story is "... because of Hurricane Katrina." Who can argue with a Category Five hurricane? But it made me wonder, are petrol companies shipping Wednesday's fuel on Tuesday? I thought petrol was shipped or moved or transported in large quantities -- you know, so if a tanker truck is delayed at a train crossing, whole cities won't shut down. I think of this as being as though my local grocery store stocked only enough food for a day's shopping by the public. If a highway accident caused the resupply trucks to be late, the grocery store could jack up its prices, saying with a shrug, "There was an accident." No, necessities like that are shipped in large quantity so hiccups in the supply chain don't grind civilization to a halt. And yes, I have seen the pie charts on the gas pumps showing me how gas station owners offer fuel purely as a labor of love; they're not making any money on it. But someone is. And they're circulating these ready-made stories to accompany every price hike. I liked it better when I used to get a free plastic drinking glass or steak knives with every fill-up.

All of this is beside the point, anyhow. You don't have to be a Hummer-hating, ozone-hole-tracking activist to realize that our petroleum based world is unsustainable, and teetering toward collapse in the next couple of decades. When I bought my house two years ago I made an honest-to-God effort to have it solar-powered. Not because of some deeply held philosophy -- because I wanted to save money. But in my research, I found solar-power vendors were completely disinterested in actually selling their wares. I was also surprised to find that there are absolutely no incentives for anyone to "go solar", such as tax credits or rebates or even advertisements saying such technology exists. At one point, a solar-power vendor actually told me that I would require permission from my local utility to go solar. That's like having to ask GM for permission to buy a Ford vehicle.

So, rather than our corporate scientists giving us new and improved mouthwash, toothpaste, detergent, or heartburn remedies, could someone devote even their lunch-hour to developing alternative energy sources for our vehicles and homes? I'm a willing consumer.