wilpharm wrote:
... if we are independent, why are we importing russian petro ...??
Imports of Russian petroleum into the United States is about to stop if Congress gets off their butts and passes the bill they're talking about.
Apparently there's a building swell with enough bipartisan support for it to likely withstand a potential presidential pocket veto.
The United States has only imported 1% of Russian petroleum products for our needs in the recent past, so the impact on us won't be as bad as Europe will see.
If you're not old enough to remember the oil crisis which began in October of 1973, and led to gas rationing in 1974, you should do a bit of research on that subject.
I remember it well.
At the time I was taking riding lessons near my home, but dating someone who owned a show horse and lived about 45 minutes away. Trucking the horse up to the trainer every Saturday resulted in the car needing to be filled up before being able to return home with the horse.
During that rationing period, some jobs were exempt from the rationing limits.
Twice I was tasked with taking the car down the street to fill it, presenting the letter, stating that the car owner was a traveling insurance salesman so the car could be filled up. With that letter, a full tank was guaranteed no matter what the date was, while others were limited to fill-ups on either odd or even days based on the last digit on their license plate. Other areas of the country limited the volume a driver was able to purchase.
That oil crisis resulted in the national speed limit being set at 55 to conserve fuel. It also resulted in the establishment of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the creation of the fuel economy standards.
In today's gas price inflation, drivers should be looking at ways to cut back on the amount of driving they're doing to reduce the pain at the pump.
Combine trips for errands, logistically plan your trips to prevent overlapping where you need to go. Map out your trips ahead of time to reduce the number of miles you're driving.
Start carpooling.
My dad carpooled to work for nearly the last 15 years he worked with two other men who lived near us and worked at the same plant which was 30 minutes away.