That lovely SUV isn’t looking so good

CATHARINE COOPER

Let’s talk about oil.

Drat. That doesn’t sound like much fun, does it?

I mean, if you’re like me, a glance at the gas gauge nudging

itself toward the BIG E (for EMPTY) sends a recurring shiver down

your back. I admit it -- I own a gas-guzzling SUV. “Slynx” was a

mid-life crisis purchase. She’s beautiful, has 347 ponies running

under the hood, and rips past grief-giving jerks on the freeway. When

she was new, gas prices were what I can affectionately refer to as

low, and we definitely had a love affair.

OK. Love affair over, or at least tainted. $60 a tank? $60 a tank!

Ouch!

So what’s a gal to do? Sell her beloved Slynx? One of the numerous

spam e-mails I receive would have me believe that my job is not to

complain about the prices, but to simply make more money. Somehow, I

don’t think that’s quite the complete answer.

President Bush, et al, wants to open up additional offshore oil

leases and, of course, drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The science doesn’t quite match the projections, but that won’t slow

down our current one-party government’s desires. Gee, I can’t wait to

have another oil well to enhance my Pacific view!

There are whispers about “our” oil going to places like China and

India, which are expanding their automobile population with wild

abandon. When pressed, administration officials hurriedly spill

platitudes about that never happening. If I’ve learned one thing in

the past six years, it’s to not believe much of what they say.

Certainly, the idea of America as an oil exporter cracks open the

story we hear about self-sufficiency and opens the stinky box of

greed.

If the oil isn’t for us, then exactly why should we despoil our

last untouched piece of the north coast and forever damage a refuge,

necessary for the basic existence -- the breeding grounds -- for

millions of migratory birds, porcupine caribou and polar bears?

Unlike the American Indians, they cannot simply be relocated.

Real science tells us, there really isn’t enough oil to make

drilling in ANWR financially viable. Oil reserve estimates of six

months to one year -- and that’s in today’s usage -- do not logically

pencil out. The first barrel won’t reach the market for 10 years. But

the service industries, the infrastructures -- the roads, pipelines,

airports -- and those who will build and maintain them, stand to reap

great benefits. And Alaskans will all get an additional check each

month, because “we” -- the other Americans -- are drilling on their

lands. No wonder their governor is so adamantly in favor of the

project.

The answer isn’t in deeper or further drilling. The fact is, oil

is a non-renewable energy source. There is a fixed amount. Period.

We’ve hooked our lifestyles to a limited commodity, and as it grows

scarcer, we whine (I include myself here), over the price we must pay

for our addiction.

As long as I can remember, there has been talk about alternative

energy vehicles and light and/or high-speed rail systems, but growth

in that industry sector has been limited. Since we are a capitalist

society, based on an entrepreneurial spirit, possibly this bump in

petroleum prices will finally shove us in a direction of action.

The first thing that begins to happen -- we make changes to our

behavior. We actually search for a carpool partner. We expand

telecommuting -- travel less miles, and only when necessary for

face-to-face meetings. Ridership has recently jumped on commuter

lines, proving that we are able to get out of our cars.

How many of us would jump at the chance to have a viable train

schedule to and from Los Angeles? Personally, I’d love to hop the

train for an evening of theater/dance/music, or even a

baseball/basketball game. And take the train home. However, I’d have

to leave an event by 8:30 to make a 9 o’clock train. Supply and

demand ought to be at work here, so it’s time to start pressing the

phones of Amtrak/Coaster -- or our local representatives -- to expand

rail schedules.

And what of our cherished automobiles? We continue to wait for

electric cars that have zoom and can travel long distances without a

plug. We continue to hope for hydrogen cells -- or their cousin -- an

alternative that is efficient and non-polluting. We continue to wait

-- and to make strides toward -- the next great thing that we have

yet to invent or unveil. Likely, it won’t be about oil.

* CATHARINE COOPER can be reached at 949-497-5081 or

[email protected].