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In 1967, some friends and I bought a VW in Dusseldorf, Germany, and drove all around western Europe, where we paid about $2.40 a gallon for gas. That was 41 years ago. Today they pay between $5 and $7 a gallon, while we are now at $3.50 and will probably go to $4 before this summer is over.

That summer I was in Europe it was very obvious that Europeans drove small cars. Their trucks were even small, one reason being the price of petrol, another being narrow streets in many of the towns and villages where even a Ford Mustang seemed like a large car.

Back then oil seemed to be in plentiful supply (we were paying about 35 cents a gallon in the States). Well, it isn’t any more, it is getting more scarce by the day and no president, and I stress the word “no,” is going to change that and here’s why.

The earth is running out of oil, and yes I know there are many people who don’t believe that, but according to some sources the known U.S. supply of oil peaked around 1970 and has been headed toward zero ever since.

The world’s supply peaked about 2005 and is now also headed towards zero. OPEC controls a large amount of the world’s supply of oil. China, India and the Soviet Union have entered the global society, are becoming capitalists and are buying automobiles and in the case of China (only the United States has more billionaires), buying big cars.

Think about 3 billion plus new consumers of oil, and what that does to the law of supply and demand. The U.S. government (i.e. Congress) goofed years ago by not promoting mass transit. Instead they went for the easy fix of building more roads.

The oil companies and Detroit probably had Congress in their pockets and as usual Congress followed the money, but, to be fair, the American public liked their cars and would rather drive than ride with a bunch of other people. It took away their independence, so Congress gave them what they wanted. That, too, was easier to do.

So what can you do now. Not much. Probably the only direct method is for you to drive smaller, more gas efficient cars, walk more and practice conservation of energy around your home such as changing your light bulbs to the new twisted kind. And you can tell your congressmen (not that it will do much good, since you don’t contribute to their re-election, and only money gets their attention) to:

Promote nuclear energy (France, I understand, is almost comptely nuclear powered).

Promote clean coal (the U.S. has more coal than any other country in the world).

Promote the production of shale oil, like that in the southwest region of Wyoming, where it is reported to have more oil than all the wells in Saudia Arabia.

Promote wind power and other alternative methods of energy production.

To base your vote this coming November on what a candidate tells you they are going to do to reduce gasoline prices, is, to put it very bluntly, just plain stupid. You can do more by driving less and/or getting a high MPG vehicle than what any candidate promises you.

The only way prices will come down is if a candidate tells you they will use the “bully pulpit” to move Congress to enact a long term and possibly painful energy program that includes the methods I have alluded to. If they don’t, you will be paying what Europe pays now or more.

Joseph Upton of Holmen is a former teacher and former member of the Holmen School Board.

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