We, the people…

…are getting tired of being gang-raped by the oil companies. We are sick of sudden spikes, one-penny-difference “competition” and continual “Prices are going up!” gloom-and-doom on the news, presumably circulated by the oil companies. We hold the following truths to be self-evident.

• The Oil Companies will continue to maximize their profits at the expense of the rest of us.
• Most consumers have no effective choice when it comes to transportation.
• The Petrol industry is NOT operating according to free-market principles. The small number of Oil companies has led to an oligopoly.
• The Oil companies will suppress anything that threatens that oligopoly, including alternative technology that threatens their business model.
• The Oil Companies have acquired and buried patents and technologies that would have resulted in significant lowering of Petrol consumption.

We the people therefore recommend the following remedies.

• All Gas stations will be prohibited from changing their price more than once per day
• That daily change will be limited to five cents.
• Those who break this law will be required to refund ALL customers who purchased on that day, on request.
• Credit-card companies will be required to assist in providing said refunds.
• Oil companies will be given the choice of investing in new refineries and drilling for oil within the US, or paying a windfall tax to be set by Congress.
• This tax, alone with 25% of the taxes that are currently coming from Petrol, will be used to finance academic research into alternative fuels.
• The results of that research will be made freely available to all except the Oil companies, who will be prohibited from investing in or owning any alternative-fuel businesses, due to the inherent conflict of interest.
• Tax breaks will be made available to businesses offering alternative fuels and technologies.
• The building of new clean-burn coal-fired and/or Nuclear electric power stations.
• Research and investment into a viable inter-city and inter-state Public Railway system.

Well… that’s the best I can manage at short notice. The question is: do you have a better idea?

Now Reading: The Testament, by John Grisham