Tom and I had to go to big city, round trip 110 miles, Gas prices since we filled up last, has increased 22 cents to 1.39 a gallon. Over lunch we were discussing the world conditions, and if the oil nations would stop oil productions, because of Israel conflict, how would we manage. We have a tractor which we use for plowing, fertilizing, and cutting hay in our fields for selling. We have one pickup, and one car. Then there is the lawn mower, and we have a acre of lawn. The more we discussed it, the more we relized what a terrible thing this would be. In one of the newspapers there was a article how we used our oil reserves during the persian gulf war, and never replentish them, and if there was a oil imbargo, the USA would only last a month. How would we cope, what about people who drive many miles to work. I know this is a lot of what if"s, but it does make you think.

-- Irene texas (tkorsborn@cs.com), April 06, 2002

Answers

While it concerns me and the wife, we have a car, van, dully, tractor and fuel is one of our major cost, remember if we stopped buying their crude oil, they would be back to riding camels across the desert. We have to drill and explore for new oil fields and find other sources of energy. True they could hurt us but it would hurt them also. I don't think we can give into their threats or the terrorest will just keep on. High fuel prices are going to hurt and hurt bad, but the next attack here in theUSA is going to hurt even more. Last month at the local civil defense training class, which they hold once a year there were over a hundred, usually there are about 10 to 12. Most were there from hospitals, police, and so on and were told to be there. Its not over, be observant, be careful, PRAY and remember we are at war. They killed more people in the World Trade Center, civilians than military at Pearl Harbor.

-- David in North Al. (bluewaterfarm@mindspring.com), April 06, 2002.

Firstly, I think the likelyhood of OPEC shutting off the oil flow is remote. OPEC countries depend on the oil income as much as we depend on a reliable source.

Secondly, I think that homesteaders and country folk in gereral are more able to weather any oil shortages than our city cousins. Your tractor runs all day on five gallons of fuel, and if you have to borrow your neighbors livestock to "mow" and fertilize your lawn, hey, look at all the time you saved mowing your one acre of green. You likely have a pretty good stash of Y2K goods on hand, so if necessary, you could get by.

If you are reliant on large amounts of fuel and don't already have home delivery to a bulk tank, maybe now is the time to go for it. If you would likely go hungry after not being able to hit the grocery stores once a week, maybe it's time to stock up and quit worrying.

Ultimately, the answer is to use our resources intelligently and sparingly. Plan your trips and combine with neighbors to ensure a loaded vehicle each way on a trip to town. Don't use the gas guzzling two ton truck to haul a couple sacks of feed from town, tie 'em to the top of your car if necessary.

Encourage conservation among your friends neighbors and the people we elect to office. Everyone, especially elected officials and utility/oil companies underestimate the power and potential of conservation. Remember, just last year when California was going through their energy shortages, folks in the northwest were asked to voluntarily reduce their own consumption by 10%. It didn't hurt anyone, in fact it opened many people's eyes to the waste we are accustomed to and we were able to exceed expectations.

-- Tis I (really_tis_i@yahoo.com), April 06, 2002.

I think the prospects of gas prices inflating hurt those who commute the 90 mile trip or so to a city job more financially than those of course, who live right in town which is why this effect homesteaders. I know it also can be a mindset. My mother who lives in Florida comes to visit every summer for a couple of months and will go to the nearest town (40 miles round trip) every day just to get a copy of the newspaper and a pick up a couple of items from the grocery store for things that we would just live without, such as ice cream. Many families that live around us do the 90 mile (round trip) commute every day to the nearest city and gas prices effect them more than when the price of milk goes up. I can remember the days in 1973- 74 in California when there was a gas shortage and you could only fill your gas tank on certain days depending whether your license plate began with a odd or even number or something like that. Out of state plates were exempt. We were in college and had Colorado plates so it did not effect us. The other thought is that if you do live out in the boonies, you had better have your bases covered because there would be much less driving in to town if there was a gas shortage. Where the shortages during WW I and WW II due to the fact that the military's needs came first? Could that be a possibility also in this instance?

-- Marie in Central WA (Mamafila@aol.com), April 06, 2002.

Where this can affect homesteaders is in keeping that old gas guzzler, or I know a lot of people who insist on driving "land yachts" because they feel safer, so a more efficient vehicle (or at least replacing the car and there is no such thing as a fuel efficient truck) will make a big difference.

Maybe all of those people who have 90 mile commutes will move closer to their jobs (after doing the math) realizing that they were losing money even before this happened.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), April 06, 2002.

As a Canadian who pays about double what you do for gas, and who used to have gas at your prices, I know that you become more economical in your trips to town and eventually adjust to the prices. Not easy but probably less impact than you might fear. Tomas in b.c.

-- Tomas (bakerzee@hotmail.com), April 06, 2002.

Thursday and Friday regular here went from $1.239 to $1.459 in my city of 350,000. Saturday I drove to a much smaller community less than 100 miles away and found prices of $1.299 ;and $1.339. Fortunately, I don't drive far to work or anywhere else most of the time. Unfortunately, that kind of driving in a big V-8 powered 4x4 means I get about 10 mpg.

I remember when gas prices went up from the .35-.40 range to the $1.00 range a number of years ago and everyone was sure it was going to be catastrophic. The fact is we still bought gas and the same thing will be true this time around. I paid as much as $1.639 a summer ago. It wasn't pleasant (over $63.00 for a fill-up) but I lived to talk about it.

We will survive this. We have before and we will again. ;o)

-- Gary in Indiana (gk6854@aol.com), April 07, 2002.

The Rangely, CO oil field has reserves equal to 50% of the known OPEC reserves. Besides that there is considerable oil in Wyoming as well as Texas, Oklahoma, Alaska, Mississippi, Louisiana, and I'm sure other places in the states. There is really not a good reason that I can see that the USA should have to import oil at all.

-- kim in CO (kimk61252@hotmail.com), April 07, 2002.

I made the decision many weeks ago to limit my driving to 50 miles a week. I ride my bicycle a lot to help cut down on driving, and have saved a lot of money because of this. I put $10 worth of gas in my truck a month ago and have only used about half of it (though I have been out of town for some of that time). I agree with the above posters who suggested carpooling, limiting trips to town, etc. I think that if I HAD to commute a long distance to work, and the cost of fuel were a consideration, I would buy a motorcycle and use that to get to work.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), April 08, 2002.

We are a large enough country to be able to look after our own needs without importing.

One example, saving energy and resources by recycling instead of tossing--it can be so difficult to recycle in places, even when you want to. Not only that, products should be clearly marked on the front as to whether the container is recyclable or not with a simple Yes or No. It would be a lot easier for people to adjust their buying habits accordingly. And, any community large enough to have city or county trash service should accept/pick up recyclables free, and not have "we take this, but we don't take that rules". Stupid rules like "the opening of the container cannot be larger than the diameter of the base" (which rules out most yogurt/other dairy containers), or that lids can't be recycled. No wonder people don't bother recycling--it's not logical, and the rules change from community to community.

Also, perhaps people should be allowed to remove some of the safety features on their vehicles if they wish--I never understood why it was legal to drive an unprotected motorcycle, but your car "needs" to have fenders, windshield, etc. Remove some of that stuff and you'd get better mileage. A lot of people get castigated for buying SUV's or larger cars--well, mandatory car seats take up LOTS of room, and you're still better off in one car than taking (and paying insurance, tags, etc.) on a second or third vehicle.

-- GT (nospam@nospam.com), April 08, 2002.