Fuel Cost is Down, but Don’t Relax Yet
During the past couple of weeks, the soaring cost of fuel has gone down a bit from an average of around $4.50 per gallon to a little over or under $4.00 per gallon, depending upon where you live.
Every little bit helps, so we are not complaining about the savings we are seeing lately. However, there are predictions that fuel prices will begin to climb again, and that this climb may be steeper than the last.
This is a difficult situation to fathom. When prices went near $3 per gallon, people were stunned, and when they went above $3 it really started to hurt consumers. Now that we have been over $4 per gallon, it has not only hurt consumers at the pump, but created an economic mess in the United States and other countries, as well.
The cost of fuel has affected the cost of food, clothing, air travel and just about everything else we can think of. It has become overwhelming for many, and there is already great concern about what various areas will do about heat this winter, and what farmers will do to be able to afford fertilizer for their crops.
If this isn’t bad enough, there are news articles and reports coming out of everywhere stating that gas prices will continue to rise and could get to as high as $7 or $8 in the United States and $11 or $12 in Europe by early 2009.
There is no way of knowing if these reports are based on anything but fear, however, it is certainly possible that fuel prices will continue to rise until a solution to the crisis is found. The technology is available for creating and using alternative fuels, as well as creating other fuel and energy sources. In addition, the idea of more drilling has been tossed about a lot lately.
Regardless of what method or methods are used to deal with the fuel crisis, it is likely that prices will waver up and down until they finally level off, hopefully at a number that we can all find a way to live with somehow.
In the meantime, lawmakers will keep going back and forth about the appropriate solution, and we will be keeping our eyes on the pump and watching how much we drive.