Travis Walters
Oil reached a record high last Friday, priced at $126.29 a barrel after falling from $128 a barrel earlier in the day. In an effort by the Bush administration to curb prices for American consumers, the Department of Energy will stop shipping oil to the strategic oil reserve in July. Before the decision was made, Congress voted to direct the executive branch to end shipments to the reserve. In case the bill becomes law, the DOE decided not to purchase oil for the months of July through December.
After the 1973 oil crisis, the U.S. built a reserve capable of holding 540 million barrels. Since 2001, the Bush administration has increased that number to approximately 700 million barrels, enough to supply the U.S. for 58 days.
President Bush met with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during his latest Middle East tour to ask Saudi Arabia to increase production. King Abdullah declined saying there was not enough demand from their customers.
Candice Riley, a third-year interior design student said, “I drive daily; I live out on Chatham Parkway so I either drive to Eichberg downtown or out to Abercorn Street where I work.” When asked whether her driving habits have changed, Riley said, “I wish, but no. I have to get to the places I need to go. My schedule is pretty tight. I need a car to get me from place to place on time.”
With rising gas prices, carpooling and alternative transportation are becoming more popular. The Chatham County-Savannah Metropolitan Planning Commission created Coastal Commuters. The program started April 18 and began by coordinating carpools for local hospital employees. Any organization can register, said Jane Love, transportation planner with the CC-SMPC. The Web site hosts a Ride-Matching system that anyone can use to locate and talk with others to arrange carpools. The system also lets users log their trips to show how much money they’ve saved, as well as how much carpooling has reduced emissions and greenhouses gases. Love said there are “over 30 registrants now, and the majority are individuals who are not enrolled in any of the current employer networks. Registration has grown a bit every week, which shows people continue to hear about it.” She said that in the 29 days the program has been in operation, 282 miles of driving have been avoided, 31 parking spaces have been freed up, 225 lbs. of carbon dioxide have not been emitted and 11 gallons of gasoline has been saved.
When asked about this service Riley said, “No, I hadn’t heard of it. I don’t think I would use it because, again, I have a pretty tight schedule and I don’t know that a shuttle service would be as convenient as I need it to be.” Although she said, “I actually don’t travel by car very much downtown. I mean, I drive downtown from home, but once I’m there I park and walk everywhere throughout the day. I’ve found that it’s quicker to walk downtown than drive anywhere — trolleys and tourists are annoying.”
Third-year illustration student Lynsey Steinberg said she drives less, “About three times a week.” She said “I’d rather use my own social networking to carpool and meet students in my classes before carpooling with a random stranger.”
