Living in America is a Gas

My recent trip back to PA to see my parents (where I filled my tank for a cheap $2.89 per gallon) and my upcoming trip to Fredrick tomorrow have severely cut into my gasoline budget. As such, money that would have been used for something enjoyable is now being poured into my gas tank. I blame Bush. Of course I have every reason to do so...

On May 07, 2001 this was part of the White House Briefing:

Q Is one of the problems with this, and the entire energy field, American lifestyles? Does the President believe that, given the amount of energy Americans consume per capita, how much it exceeds any other citizen in any other country in the world, does the President believe we need to correct our lifestyles to address the energy problem?

MR. FLEISCHER: That's a big no. The President believes that it's an American way of life, and that it should be the goal of policy makers to protect the American way of life.

Thanks, asshat. You could have been working on this problem for the last 5 years. Except that you didn't even think it was a problem! Of course neither did Ford or GM. Now they're losing money because they banked on SUVs.

I'm not the President of the United States or the CEO of a huge auto company, but even I know that with a fixed amount of oil in the world and India and China emerging as super-economies, oil prices are going to go up. Miss Beaver's 12th grade econ class covered that one. But Bush's education, apparently, didn't. Only people who earn their way into Yale get into that class.

I digress...

I have been to Europe. I've lived there. In Rome, where I lived, petrol is over $5.00 a gallon. Life didn't stop, people adapted their lifestyles. They drove scooters or rode buses. Trains were available. Windows opened instead of central air.

As much as it will gall Right-Wingers, America will adopt that model of life. There's no other choice.

UPDATE - 4:36pm: From Hotline:

per WH pooler Julie Mason of the Houston Chronicle: "En route [to the Marriott Wardman Park], the motorcade passed the Exxon station next to the Watergate, where gas prices were $3.29, $3.39 and $3.49 a gallon. Just saying."

I guess Presidents don't worry about having to stop for gas. Or stoplights for that matter.

Gas Prices George W. Bush Europe Conservation