While scanning the top stories at CNN.com last night, I came across a story I would ordinarily pass over--but instead, I gave it a look. And in doing so, I presented myself with a fascinating question--one that could have serious repercussions if the answer played itself out.
ExxonMobil is selling all of its gas stations--all the ones that are corporate-owned, anyway. That means they'll all be privately owned. What sparks the intrigue, as I see it, is their reason for selling them off: even at $4 a gallon, it's not proftable enough a venture. So it begs the question: if gas prices continue to soar, and the gasoline business becomes less and less profitable, AND both the corporate and private owners of gas stations make similar decisions . . . see where I'm going with this?
What if so many people get out of the business that gasoline is no longer readily available? It's a slippery-slope argument, to be sure. But have we really considered the supply-side pain of oil prices? The gasoline business isn't a public utility thing, it's a for-profit thing. If the profit disappears, and sellers decide to get out, what happens to the consumers? I may be alone, but I've always thought that if Big Oil ever falls it would be due to shrinking demand (carpooling, public transportation, airlines cutting flights due to rising fuel costs, hybrids and alternate fuel vehicles reducing demand, etc.). I never considered the possibility that gas stations would give up before they became obsolete.
Honda is testing a new alternative fuel vehicle called the FCX Clarity. It's a "fuel cell" powered vehicle, which means it's the hydrogen car we've all been hearing about. Honda is ready to test them, and is offering leases to people who (a) have driving habits that match the car's capability and range, and (b) live within a certain distance of the few fueling depots that currently exist. I live in one of those zip codes, and signed up. (I was even sent the questionnaire for consideration. I haven't heard anything yet.) I have no idea if I'll be selected, but if I am, this whole gasoline business thing will be moot for me.
I'll have no reason to care.
Observations, rants, and plausible
deniability from a person who refuses
to be a prisoner of his own world.
deniability from a person who refuses
to be a prisoner of his own world.
The Village
I AM WRITING!
My Screenplay -- Draft Three
I'm currently reading:
On my Kindle 2
I'm listening to:
iTunes Radio
I'm driving:
The Honda FCX Clarity
