Last Monday, I paid $2.60 per gallon for E85 at our town's lone ethanol station. I pumped just a few gallons, as I always do between paychecks. But 2.5 gallons won't go very far in my 2000 flex-fuel Dodge Caravan. On Thursday, I returned for more and the station was all-out of E85, and almost everything else. So I motored on fumes over to my handy neighborhood station and pumped a few gallons of regular unleaded. It was at $2.99 a gallon then, but I saw yesterday that the price is up to $3.04.
Our prices are low compared to those in other states. And I'm sure that ethanol -- when it's available -- will also be going up, as diesel-burning trucks bring it in from Nebraska. I've been reading about various reasons for the price increases. Limited refinery output. Increase in summer driving. War and pestilence. Where is all that Iraqi oil we were supposed to get as thanks for our enduring sacrifices in Mesopotamia? According to this morning's New York Times, millions of gallons a week are disappearing, probably stolen by Tralfamadorian starships in the dead of night.
I guess I could throw a tantrum: I want my E85! I want my E85!
Or I could take responsibility for my own actions. They are more reasonable that radical. The weather's nice and it's time to break out the bicycle for commuting. It takes me less than 30 minutes to get to work via bike. I can also walk, if I leave earlier. These Cheyenne mornings are gorgeous now, and what better way to enjoy them than a walk under the blooming crabapple trees?
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