Recent lines I have observed here in Metro Atlanta got me to thinking about the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo.

Since Hurricanes Gustav and Ike hit the Texas Gulf coast and had knocked out power to refineries in that particluar region, gas supplies to much of the southeastern U.S. have been significantly impacted to the point that most stations have none to offer.

What few do have gas, however, get ridiculous lines that remind me of the images I remember as a child seeing on TV during the 1970s. In fact, I sarcastically wondered if I had traveled through some kind of "time warp". Upon making that comment to one friend of mine as I was talking to him on the Atlanta Radio Club 146.82 MHz repeater, he was quite amazed that, at the age of 44 (I was 9 at the time of the embargo), that I even remembered that particular event.

Today, as my tank was between 1/4 and 1/2 a tank, I drove all over a good bit of western Forsyth County, and even a few miles into eastern Cherokee County, looking for a place to fill up... but there was no gas to be found.

Not wanting to burn too much more gas in the hunt for such, I finally turned and went back home, figuring I had at least enough gas to get me to my "real job" 40 miles from GRG HQ.

Just this week, the State of Georgia convinced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to allow shipments of gasoline with higher sulfur-content in order to help stabilize the situation (due to Federal clean air mandates imposed upon much of Atlanta and northern Georgia, only lower-sulfer content motor fuels can be sold around here). However, I have yet to see any significant impact.

Meanwhile, our politicians tell us "not to worry" and that the gas situation should be stabilized within the next week or so... but I'll believe it when I see it.

In the meantime, my wife and I have taken steps to conserve fuel, such as consolidating trips and getting as much done in one trip as possible (grocery shopping, banking, etc.). However, even with our own conservation steps, the fact is that gas is scarce and we fear that, if the situation does not improve soon, then it could bring all of us here in the Metro Atlanta area (and others in such areas as Knoxville and Nashville) practically to our knees.

If there is one lesson our politicians should learn from this mess, it is that we, as a nation, need to be much more aggressive into pursuing "alternative fuels" research. Hybrids are a good start, but since we depend way too much on petroleum-based products (i.e. gasoline), we need to look at doing more with such fuels as natural gas (which already powers MARTA buses and many government and commercial vehicles), "biodiesel", and even hydrogen fuel cells. Otherwise, the situation we have right now could be seen as very mild compared to how it could be in the future.

Two weeks from today, I am planning to go to Knoxville for a "roadmeet" and tour of the SmartFix40 construction, but if the gas situation continues to be as bad as it is right now, I'm really looking forward to seeing several of my fellow roadgeeks at this meet, but if the gas situation continues to suck, then regretfully, I'll have to cancel my plans.

How has it affected you and what have you done to help mitigate it for yourself and/or your family? Please feel free to e-mail me (webmaster at georgiaroadgeek dot com) and let me know. If you include your postal address in your correspondence, I'll e-mail you an official Georgia Road Geek magnet as a token of my appreciation.

If you'd like more info on the upcoming Knoxville roadmeet, then please e-mail me (webmaster at georgiaroadgeek dot com) and I'll respond ASAP with the meet info.

One more thing before I go...

I now have my own Twitter page where I have begun to post some "mini-blogs" (a.k.a. "tweets") between "regular blogs". Please visit my Twitter page, feel free to "follow" me, and thanks in advance for doing so.

That's it for now. Thanks for reading and please come back again.

 

What did you think of this article?

Liked
Disliked
No Opinion