More cars and fewer refineries don’t add up

EDITOR: Common sense: What is common sense? According to Merriam-Webster, common sense is defined as, “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.” Thus, “common sense” (in this view) equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have.

You might ask yourself, why that question? I ask that question because we as taxpayers and citizens have for the most part forgot we were given common sense to make important decisions and to weigh the truth in the stories we are told.

Case in point, the subject is soaring gas prices. The oil companies come out with their tried and true dribble for the increases. The news media picks it up and regurgitates the story over and over and we do not use our common sense to test these stories. And they are just that, in my opinion, stories. The dribble this time is because of a gas line failure at the Chevron Plant in the Bay Area. So now, ask yourself why a multi-billion dollar company cannot do the proper maintenance
work on a two bit pipeline.

In my opinion the real reason lies in the fact that no new refineries have been built in the U.S. since 1976. During that time the number of cars driven daily has risen dramatically and that is an understatement. Because the building of refineries is not high on the environmentalist to do list, they have been shelved by state and federal government. The American taxpayer has to put out more money in an already seriously depressed economy. The news says we are spending a billion dollars a day on gasoline, yet Chevron cannot replace a two bit pipeline to keep it from breaking.

So now, ask yourself why the state and federal governments do not say anything. Answer, higher gas prices mean more tax money made on every gallon of gas sold in California, while we are looking at gas price increases of 10 cent a day. Utah, for example, has prices of $3.45 for unleaded gasoline, and $3.90 for diesel. The difference is the tax on gasoline and diesel in California. I believe Utah does not have a refinery, so all fuel has to be trucked into the state.

But wait, this price increase will suddenly and more predictably take a large decrease just in time for the November elections. No there couldn’t be any connection between higher and higher prices before Labor Day and low prices before an election. I suspect before Election Day, our current president will make some dramatic move or statement that will scare the gas companies in their board rooms and the prices will come down at the pumps.

We seriously need to vote out incumbents.

BRIAN DEBERRY
Placerville