How does oil price effect my day to day life, outside of driving a car?
Everything, and I
mean EVERYTHING is affected by the price of oil. The food you get at
the grocery story was grown or raised using farm equipment that runs
on oil, then it is processed using oil based machinery, after that it
is packaged, usually in plastic which is petroleum based, after that
is it shipped in large trucks or trains that run on oil. From there
it is placed into plastic bags (even paper bags are affected by oil)
then taken home where it is usually cooked, which is powered by
electricity which is usually, but not always, produced from oil based
products. Food is not the only thing that goes through this cycle.
Lumber for your house, the cloths on your back, the roads you walk
on, and everything in between is all affected directly by the price
of gasoline.
Since everything is
affected by oil, I was curious if I could figure out the process of a
single banana, from seed to the counter. Let's start with the workers
there. They all have rubber soled shoes, polyester clothing, and
rubber gloves, all of which are directly related to the price of oil.
From there we move on the the banana itself. Once the fruit starts to
appear on the plant they wrap it in a plastic bag coated with
pesticides. Not only is the plastic bag a direct product of oil,
pesticides are as well. After the bags are put on the entire field is
sprayed with more pesticides, from a helicopter, running on gasoline.
Right before harvesting, the works insert foam cushions between the
bunches to avoid bruising; Foam is also a product from oil. After
that the bananas are harvested and transported to the processing
plant, where the bunches get cut up, washed, then washed again. Any
bananas that didn't meet code are shipped to become baby food, or
animal feed. The ones that do make it get a plastic sticker of the
brand put on them, and from there they are packaged in plastic and
cardboard. Once packaged they are shipped by boat to their location.
Once they arrive they are shipped by truck to the grocery store. They
are then placed into cooling cellars and await the shelves. Once on
the shelves they are bought and driven home. Once home they can
finally be eaten.
The more we consume
the more gas prices affect you. With record high gas prices we are
starting to feel the tightening grip of the oil companies around our
way of living. When gas prices drive the price of everything we come
into contact with daily, who is to blame for the rising gas prices?
Is it our fault for being so dependent on fossil fuels for so long?
Or does the fault lye with the oil companies for bringing in record
profits, even in a very low economy. Or should we blame the
government for giving the oil companies subsidies, even though they
rake in more and more money every single quarter. I don't believe
that the fault lies with any one aspect. They are all to blame. In
America we complain about high gas prices and yet, when looking at
Europe, whose gas prices have been $4-$8 a gallon for a very long
time now, we don't see a trend that will soon apply to us. What will
Americans do when the price of gas reaches 8 dollars a gallon?
When gas prices are $4 or more, when on average only 48 cents is
tax. That leaves more than $3.50 that goes back to the oil companies.
It's no wonder that the huge oil companies are making record
profits.“The big five oil companies' profits for 2011 are: Exxon,
$41.1 billion; Shell, $31.2 billion; BP, $26.1 billion; Chevron,
$26.9 billion; Conoco Phillips, $12.4 billion. CEO bonuses are in the
millions.” In attempts to better their bottom line, oil companies
have now started to export more and more oil to other countries
because they can make more money elsewhere. When Europeans pay $8 a
gallon vs our $4 a gallon, it makes sense why they would do that. On
the other hand, when they export more oil than the US imports it
drives our gas prices up.
Some things that
affect gas prices are unavoidable. Things like Iranian President
Ahmadinejad threatening to stop its flow of oil by blockading the
Strait of Hormuz, Europe’s debt crisis, or the tension in the
middle east all affect the price of gas, and no one group or person
is to blame for those things.
Some people blame
the President and his administration for the rising gas prices. Some
say it is because he has refused additional drilling and pipelines to
be put in place, but the fact is this has not effected out current
production. “A projected drop in total domestic oil production this
year should amount to six-tenths of 1 percent of all U.S. consumption
of liquid fuels.”
http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/opinion/sbt-20120412sbtmicha-05-04-20120412,0,2148479.story
http://www.api.org/Oil-and-Natural-Gas-Overview/Industry-Economics/Fuel-Taxes.aspx
http://www.factcheck.org/2011/03/is-obama-to-blame-for-4-gasoline/
I thought that when you talked about the harvesting of the banana and incorporating that into your PAA to prove a point, that it was very clever. I think you should use more personal experience with the gas prices and how they affect you.
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