Energy Pain in Franklin County PA

I want to talk about part of the energy picture in Franklin County.  Gasoline and diesel.  I’m sure you’ve noticed and felt the pain of dramatically higher gasoline prices at the pump.  For diesel users it’s even more painful.  It’s important to note here that everything in our economy moves by diesel fuel and kerosene, which is jet fuel a derivative of diesel.  When the price of fuel rises dramatically that means the cost of everything transported with it must rise.  I’m sure you’ve noticed that effect in the grocery store.

We’re burning through the world’s reserve oil inventory, which I expect will run out soon.  When that happens, we’re going to see rationing of gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and motor oil rationing.  The cause of this situation, as everyone knows, is the war of choice in in the Persian Gulf that has led to its closure.  While the United States is the largest oil producer in the world it, but by itself, it is not enough to supply the world’s needs.  More than that, most of the oil that is produced in the United States is sold outside the country where international oil starvation brings much higher prices… which creates oil starvation for everyone including us here.

Some in the Pennsylvania General Assembly has proposed a gas tax holiday, which helps a little, but won’t be nearly enough to save cash-strapped working families trying to financially survive soaring grocery, housing, health care, insurance, and transportation costs.

Rather than slavishly clinging to the archaic century-old petroleum-based energy technology of the early 20th century, I believe it is imperative that our state invest heavily in renewable non-petroleum-based energy answers in our schools, universities and businesses to generate far cheaper solutions to power our homes, businesses, and transportation.  We can also invest in public transportation throughout the state to take the pressure off of our road network and the consumption of gasoline and diesel fuel.

Remember it’s Local Voice, Local Values!