A long time ago – and I mean a VERY long time – I was cruisin’ on the freeway with my father, somewhere outside of Oakland. Well cruisin’ uses gas, and we were running low, so we looked for the first exit with a gas station and pulled off to buy some sweet, sweet gasoline. Unleaded was 96 cents a gallon.

Oil prices have gone up again. In fact, not only have they gone up, but they’ve hit an all time high. Can’t say I didn’t see that one coming. The new record is $100.01 a barrel. The previous record, set January 2nd, was $99.62. For those of you who don’t know, that’s a lot.

I don’t drive. I don’t really want to drive. And, the kicker, I don’t plan on driving. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how ridiculous gas prices are. It’s only a matter of time before my bus fare goes up 25 cents, and let me tell you, that ain’t cool. And even then, I could sit comfy if I knew it wouldn’t go up again, but unfortunately, I’m just not THAT good at lying to myself. This isn’t gonna stop. Believe it or not, the more of a resource you use, the less there is. It’s a weird concept. Ever drank a glass of water? It’s kinda like that. Except this is much more serious.

I hate to kick a dead dog, but I think – and maybe this is just me babbling – that we need to change our tune. It isn’t as if we can’t. Electricity does work, believe it or not, as does biodiesel. So why haven’t we done it yet? I don’t think enough people actually want to. They’re afraid of change, and what could possibly go wrong if we tried to go all electric. Cliché, I know, but just like every other “afraid of change” situation, it’s true. SO MUCH could go right if America went all electric, but people are so caught up with what could go wrong they can’t appreciate it. It’s the whole “tried and tested” or “go with what you know” hype. Unfortunately, what you know won’t cut it much longer.

So when we’re completely screwed because oil costs $800 dollars a gallon, don’t say I didn’t warn you. I’m not the type to say “I told you so”, but in this circumstance, I will. If you want to avoid that embarrassment at my hand – and I assure you, you do – do the right thing, and go electric.
—Silvano Pontoniere