Gasoline prices are high and they are expected to rise even higher. A few days prior to the Russian invasion into Ukraine, I decided I’d better fill up my gas tank before the prices soared despite having about a third of a tank left. So, I drove my Lexus 300 hybrid to Costco on a Monday around 11am, thinking I’d avoid the weekend traffic, but that wasn’t the case at all. Others must have had similar thoughts to mine because the line was really long. Some drove away, but being retired and with time on my hands, I decided to wait. It cost $47.94 to fill my tank.
As expected, gasoline prices have soared here in California to over $5.00 per gallon. I still have my full tank of gas because I don’t drive very much. At the height of the pandemic, when I was working from home and rarely leaving the house, it took me four months to use up a tank of gas. Gasoline has never been a huge part of my budget because I worked only 6 minutes from home, drove a hybrid, shopped locally or online whenever possible, consolidated errands, and I’m not fond of taking long drives. My Lexus is now eight years old, and I only have about 36,000 miles on it.
Without sending our children to fight, I think we should ban together to inflict as much economic pain as possible upon Putin because of his war on the innocent people of Ukraine. Putin’s major export is oil and about 8% of the oil we consume is from Russia. I already wrote to President Biden and Nancy Pelosi asking that we stop purchasing oil from Russia even though prices will go up. I also expressed to them that reducing our supply of oil and higher prices might motivate us to build the kind of structures that will enable us to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels and thereby protect the planet from climate change. This is something we should be doing anyway. I hope others share my sentiment and contact them as well.
History has shown that there are things we can do quickly as a nation during times of stress that seem impossible during peaceful times. This war in Ukraine, while horrible, could be our opportunity to greatly improve our public transportation system, increase production of electric vehicles and charging stations, move to a four-day work week and increase opportunities for remote working where feasible.
Businesses can be encouraged to offer vanpools or help organize carpools or offer remote working, four-day work weeks or a hybrid working situation. They can provide vouchers for public transportation or provide pick-up services from bus and train stops. They can make their car fleets electric. They can install electric charging stations at the workplace. Larger employers can offer on-site food services, childcare, laundry, and gym facilities thereby reducing the need to drive while also improving the work-life balance of employees.
Putin, like Hitler before him, needs to be stopped and he must be made to pay for his war crimes. But every challenge is also an opportunity, and my hope is that we will use this opportunity to punish him enough to help Ukraine while at the same time taking advantage of this stressful time to build a greener and more efficient economy for our country. In the meantime, I pray for the brave and determined people of Ukraine as they fight for their freedom from the tyranny of Putin. I just hope we will care enough about freedom and democracy to be willing to pay more at the gas pump to stop him.