The very conservative Fox News reports tonight that President Bush’s approval rating is as low as 33% according to several polls. The main reason those polled gave for their dissatisfaction is “the war in Iraq”.
I can’t say that any of this is very surprising to me.
There has been a lot of news lately about rising gas prices again. Some Americans report that gas is nearly $4.00 per gallon in certain parts of the country. I think this is a fascinating discussion because for years, Europe has somehow learned to cope with gas prices that are nearly double what they are here in the States. In August of this year, gas costs $7.00 per gallon in Amsterdam. In London it was something in the range of $6.00. The Greeks get off lightly with gas just slightly over $4.00 per gallon. Interestingly, European per capita consumption of gas and diesel stood at 286 liters a year in 2001, compared to 1,624 in the US, according to IEA figures.
Perhaps higher gas prices ultimately forces people to consider alternate ways to get to work? Perhaps higher gas prices make some folks in Europe decide that going for a jog would be a better way to spend time that cruising the strip in their pimped out Hummer H2. Perhaps higher gas prices will cause less gas consumption which in turn could cause less harm to our planet.
At the very least, perhaps rising gas prices will stimulate consumers to put pressure on corporations to finally deliver alternative methods to propell our four wheeled wonders down the road. I’m certainly not a fan of rising gas prices. But, somehow all of this felt inevitable after I watched Mad Max for the first time. I doubt our generation will see a day when we start to run out of petroleum altogether but some would argue that this is exactly what’s going to happen to our great grandchildren.
One thing you can be sure about. I won’t be buying a Hummer any time soon. Then again, I wouldn’t have bought a Hummer even if gas were free. Hmm, that’s another story isn’t it…
Sometime back, I wrote that I was beginning to have health problems. More than any other time in my life I felt horrible. Heart rate all over the place. Insomnia. You name it and I had it. So, I decided to try regular exercise and healthy food. I cut every morning coffee. I cut pizza. [...]