CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

- Gasoline is not a luxury, it is a necessity, and there are no other choices (remember, I’m talking about in our lifetime).

- It is not sold in a pure, free-market economic model, but is in the hands of a precious few oil companies, who essentially form a monopoly. There is no competition among the companies; the price is fixed. Exxon-Mobil alone recorded a 17 percent increase in profits during the first quarter of this year, totaling $11 billion!

- The price of commodities in a capitalist economy is supposed to be based on supply and demand. With oil, the supply is controlled by the oil-producing countries (OPEC) and the demand is fixed. Yes, we can reduce our demand, but only to a set level. Once we reach that level (which I suppose we could determine by measuring the number of people who freeze to death in their homes this winter), then the demand side becomes a constant.

The supply-and-demand model, therefore, does not apply to oil. It is impossible to let the price of oil float fairly as if it were a free-market commodity, because it won’t. We’re not choosing Wranglers over Levis here; we have a fixed demand and a monopolized supply. If someone controlled and was making billions on the selling of the air, we’d probably start by taking shorter breaths, but soon I think we’d want some more drastic action taken.

- One of the essential responsibilities of government is to protect its citizens from this very form of exploitation. Therefore, I am calling upon our government to do just that.

(Click to read entire article)