Celebrating Earth Day

Apparently the networks are all banding together to celebrate Earth Day with "green" programming. I caught the tail end of something tonight on Dateline about a melting glacier in Bolivia. NBC News informed me that the cause of that melting is America, and the president of Bolivia wants to sue America for ruining his glacier.

By the time Green Week is over, we're going to know who the real cause of global warming is, thanks to the networks and our local TV and radio stations. They will get to the bottom of it and root out the cause, because they're investigative reporters. I, however, already know the culprits.

See, the problem isn't America. It's Americans. There is a difference. In fact, it isn't all Americans. The Americans causing global warming are the same ones causing all the problems everywhere. They aren't Native Americans. They aren't African Americans. As always (and you'll understand this if you keep listening to the TV and radio this week) the problem is white Americans.

Moreover, it isn't all white Americans. Certainly white women aren't to blame. They're victims, too.

No, the problem causers are white American men. They're the ones causing global warming and any other problem you can think of.

Investigate a little further and you'll find that it isn't even all white American men. It's white American heterosexual men.

I'd go so far as to say that it is white American heterosexual Christian men who are at the root cause of global warming.

In fact, I'd say that it's the white American heterosexual Christian men who drive to work every day, burning fossil fuel and emitting carbon gases, who are the biggest criminals against Mother Earth.

What we need is a tax on these criminals to pay reparations. Yes, folks, if we would levy a heavy tax on all white working American heterosexual Christian men we'd solve all our problems. As we all know from experience, higher taxes always solves problems.

Those particular men are bearing most of the tax burden in this country anyway, and they're so busy trying to make enough money to keep their kids clothed and fed that they'll never notice a new tax. What can they do about it, anyway?

Gasoline woes

As you can see from the picture, gasoline in Rolla has reached a new high.

It was just about four years ago that I paid more than $2 per gallon for the first time in my life. That was in June (I think) of 2004. Delaine and I had gone way up north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for an important trip. The farther north we drove, the higher the price for gasoline. In Wisconsin I had to fill up the tank and paid a few pennies over $2. I couldn't believe it.

I'm so jaded about the price of gasoline now, though, that I do believe it. In fact, I predicted earlier this week that we would see $3.999 gasoline by the Fourth of July and $5.999 gasoline by the first day of 2009. I stand by that prediction, although it appears that we may get to those levels quicker than my prediction.

Bill E. Morrison, former Rolla Daily News managing editor who now lives and works in Chicago, e-mailed me yesterday with this message: "I paid $3.749 per gallon today when I topped off the gas tank on my vehicle. Have a nice weekend."

That's what we've got to look forward to down here in the hills.

How long do you think we can sustain fuel prices at this level and still afford to transport food to our supermarkets? We need a plentiful supply of oil, and I hear there's some wa-a-a-a-y on up farther north. All we need to do is drill it, pipe it back here and refine it.

Urban sprawl

Rolla can't figure out what it wants to be. Does it want to be one of the nation's best small towns or does it want to be St. Louis?

A check of the web sites operated by the city government indicates it is seeking urban sprawl so I guess Rolla wants to grow up to be St. Louis.

Here's one web site, Fifth Interchange, that tells a little bit about the so-called Rolla West project the city government has been working on. This site notes:

This extensive and far reaching project will not only solve some of Rolla’s most pressing transportation problems, but also open up hundreds of acres for new commercial development – thereby adding to the City's sales and property tax base needed to fund services and other improvements.

The city fathers earlier this year took some council action to hire a consulting firm to study the Rolla West Master Plan.

The concept of developing a fifth western interchange along the I-44 Corridor in Rolla (known as “Rolla West”) just west of Martin Springs Drive was first proposed by City staff at the Dec. 11, 2006 City Council workshop. This proposal, which will be a long-range, multi-phased project, will greatly improve traffic flow, safety and economic development in the Rolla community and I-44 Corridor. The Rolla West area consists of over 720 prime acres of developable industrial and commercial land that would attract numerous big box stores and national retail outlets to our area. It would also move the City’s commercial and industrial center closer to Fort Leonard Wood where numerous Rolla and Phelps County residents work and commute from on a daily basis.

We already have a lot of chain stores, big box stores and national retail outlets, but we apparently don't have enough yet, because we still have a few home-owned businesses. Maybe with the Rolla West project the city government can get rid of the rest of them.

If you want to see a map of where this sprawl is planned, try this link: Retail development.

Freezing spring

The weather station here at TheOzarksChronicle.com shows the temperature on our front porch is 46.2 F. Last night, the low was 30.3, and there's a freeze warning for Phelps County again tonight.

We had snow on the deck and cars when I got up early Sunday morning.

Tonight's freeze is supposed to be the last of the cold snap, according to the National Weather Service.

We'll have some warm weather yet this spring.

$5.999 per gallon by the first of the year

Fellow Ozarkers, I suggest you plant a huge garden this summer. I also suggest you freeze, can or dry as much as you can for the winter. I also think it would be a good idea to go to the farmers' markets and buy as much as you can handle to put up for the winter.

I'm not being an alarmist. At least, I don't think I am. I'm just looking at things realistically. Gasoline in Rolla today is $3.299 per gallon. It isn't going to go back down to stay. We may see it go down for a time, but it will always increase again. I look for gasoline to be up to $3.499 by Memorial Day and $3.999 by the Fourth of July because of summer travel demand.

Moreover, I think it will be $4.999 by Election Day. Continued demand for oil, due to lower-than-normal temperatures in November and December, along with the uncertainty about what a new administration (no matter what political party it may be) will bring in January, plus the need for travel during the Christmas season, will put the price at $5.999 per gallon by New Year's Day 2009.

You can't produce and transport food without plentiful energy. If energy costs a lot, so will your food. The more you can grow and store yourself, the better off your family will be. That's just a fact.

Those of you with a city orientation are finding me amusing today, I'm sure. True country folk, though, know I'm right; many of them already have seed in the ground.