I recall that if you put a frog in a pan of water on the stove, it wont jump out even though it is being cooked and eventually dies.
This reminds me of what the oil companies are doing to us the general public. We are the frogs and they slowly raise the price of oil but unlike the frog in the water, we jump out when the price gets beyond our willingness to purchase fuel. Then the price drops to say the $2.50 level down from the $3.50 level. Then we jump back in the water and the oil companies turn up the heat slowly bringing the price up to say $4, then we jump out and the price goes to $3.50 and we think what a great deal we are getting. Do you see where this is going and has gone?
Possible Solutions.
For our city, county governments, school districts and others with large vehicle fleets purchase used oil heaters (permissible as per Washington DEQ) and burn the used oil to heat your buildings that you would otherwise pay for someone to haul away then you dont have to pay for natural gas, electricity or heating oil.
Purchase diesel vehicles which can run on waste vegetable oil or oil extracted from Canola (Canadian Low Acid) which is a derivative of the mustered plant.
Encourage the school districts in Snohomish County (and all across the U.S.) to work with University Extension offices to grow, harvest and process Canola. Use the product to fuel the diesel vehicles that can burn it (most), sell off the excess to the community. Algae are also a possible source as per a Department of Energy testing program.
Utilize solar power to the greatest extent possible to include use of LED lighting.
Walk more, carpool and use our limited but existing mass transit system.
Or jump back in the water and wait for the price to go to $7, which will be down $6 and you will think that is a great deal.
These suggested solutions will go a long way to reducing our dependence on petroleum and by doing these things your pocketbook will thank you as will Rudolph Diesel who designed an engine to run on vegetable oil so that farmers could be independent of the petroleum companies. Oh, one last thing what happens if you spill a gallon of petroleum diesel on your front lawn? What happens if you spill a gallon of Canola oil on your front lawn? Hint Canola oil is not a hazardous substance nor is it toxic, nor will it contaminate ground water but it will make your grass greener.
Chris Jones
Arlington