Ying, Yang, And The Politics Of Oil

I took the fire breathing, 406 bhp, bright orange with black rally stripes, SS Camaro to Costco for gas today. Pulled up right behind a guy in a Smartcar. You gotta love this country. We can talk about class warfare later, and we will, but he asked about my car, and I asked about his, and we had a nice conversation.

I don't see myself driving a Smartcar. I like to go fast, and zero to sixty in more time than I have left on the planet doesn't appeal to me. But I do see the need for such a vehicle. We saw LOTS of them on the streets of Paris the first time we went. Gas over there is WAY more expensive than it is here. Always has been.

And, no matter what the price per gallon, we still need to get around. And very few American cities have the kind of public transportation that will allow you to live in them and not NEED a car.

That being said, don't buy a Camaro if it's the only car you are going to be able to own. Especially in Utah.

There is no room in it for anything but the two front seat passengers, so it's impractical for most Mormon family's. OK, I CAN get two teenage soccer players in the back, but it's getting tighter as they get older.

You have to put the back seat down to put two sets of golf clubs and your walking carts in the car. You can't put the cooler on wheels you use for Red Butte Garden concerts in the trunk. It's not deep enough.

You can't really travel in it. It doesn't have a spare tire. Just a pump and a can of, "tire goo" in the trunk. And if you drove this thing to Denver or St. George? It might just shake your teeth out. It's a muscle car, not a touring car. I have a touring car, and I know the difference.

What's the difference between a MUSCLE car and a TOURING car? About ten thousand dollars! Rim shot here, please.

And I won't even talk about what it MIGHT be like to drive this car in the snow. I say, might because I've had it a year, and I won't do it.

My car has 406 bhp (Google, "Break Horse Power" for a full explanation of what this means. I'm not going to get all, "Top Gear" on you and try to explain it. Just trust me, it means that when you step on the gas, a WHOLE lot of power goes right to the rear wheels. Does not pass go, does not collect $200. And if you turn off the traction control, and don't know what you're doing, you will go sideways faster than, Mitt Romney talking about public health care reform and Gay marriage) speed rated, summer only, Pirelli PZero tires and the rear tires are wider than the front ones. This is a recipe for disaster in the snow. Besides. I don't like to get it dirty.

The guy I pulled in behind asked about my tank capacity, and I told him it was 18 gallons. He said his was 8 gallons. I think my lawn mower holds that.

I anticipated his next question and headed him off at the pass. "Don't ask me what I get, mileage wise. I have no idea. You don't buy this car if you have to worry about that. Just know it's not my, daily driver." He shook his head like a man who knows.

All that being said. The sombitch if FUN to drive! And I do it as often as possible.

This afternoon, I paid, $3.77 a gallon for premium gas ($3.78 if you count the 9/10 tax). At COSTCO! I just got a FB message from a friend, in the oil business no less, who said he has to pay $4.49 a gallon in California.

So I asked him, since we get ALL our oil here in the intermountain west from pipelines that run from eastern Utah, and we don't use ANY foreign oil, why our price goes up like the rest of the world no matter what is happening?

He just laughed at me. It's price gouging, pure and simple. The international market controls the local prices. If we could grow coffee in southern Utah and get it cheap, the price would still go up if the crop failed in South America.

Last fall, at a tailgate party, I was discussing gas prices with a friend of mine. A right wing, Republican, hard core, Christian, friend of mine. A guy who watches the news. He reads newspapers. He's not uninformed. But he does have some blinders on when it comes to politics.

I'd still take a bullet for him, I love him like a brother. But when it comes to political stuff? He's kind of only hearing what he wants to hear.

He was really upset that the Obama Administration had stopped any new drilling offshore, and how this was going to raise our gas prices here. After all, as he said, after, Hurricane Katrina, when we couldn't get gas from pipelines in the gulf, the prices shot through the roof! We should, drill, baby, drill, etc...

I said to him, "You do know that all the oil we use here in the Mountain West comes from eastern Utah, western Colorado, and southwest Wyoming, don't you? That there are no pipelines from the gulf, or the coast that bring crude oil to the refinery's in North Salt Lake? That our refinery's in Utah TRUCK gasoline to Boise and Las Vegas, and that there are plans in the works for a gasoline pipeline from Woods Cross to Las Vegas so they don't have to TRUCK it, right? You do know we don't use ANY foreign oil here in Utah, but our prices go up because of your, "invisible hand of he market place" right?"

He didn't believe me. Despite the oil pipeline failure that filled Liberty Park's pond with oil from eastern Utah. He thought we got Arab oil.

And it had to be the, environmentalist's fault that prices went up. Nope.

Republicans are Republicans, even when they are NOT rich, because they believe that if we don't tax or bother the rich, they might share with us. They might, "trickle down" that wealth.

Democrats are Democrats because we work for a living, and pay attention.

My Camaro is a toy. I worked my whole life for it. If you work for a living and you can't afford one? You shouldn't be voting for Republicans.