Having worked in the trucking industry for many years, I’m always acutely aware of diesel fuel prices and how it effects the cost of moving freight.
Each week, the Department of Energy updates the average cost of diesel and gasoline. The DOE provides a breakdown of pricing by region and then arrives at a national average.
On Monday, diesel fuel prices continued a year-long upward trend that saw the national average increase to $3.069 per gallon.
In March 2009, diesel fuel costs had sunk to a two-year low, at one point hovering just above $2.00 a gallon.
That marked the lowest cost for a gallon of diesel since an all-time high was recorded in July 2008 when the price reached $4.75 a gallon.
As fuel prices soared during the summer of 2008, a friend of mine – like many unenlightened Americans – blamed former President George Bush for the rising cost.
Now that diesel fuel costs have risen to a 52-week high during the Obama administration’s watch, I suspect some will continue to blame George Bush.
Some may attempt to place blame on Mr. Obama too, but just as rising fuel costs weren’t the fault of George Bush, they aren’t Obama’s fault either.
If anything, you are to blame. And so am I.
The advent of the internal combustion engine is roughly 60 years past its time. Our inability to develop alternative fuel sources and our unwillingness to tap vast resources like the Bakken oil reserve are but a few of the reasons why we pay so much for a gallon of fuel.
If you need to refuel this week and become a little dismayed that a tank costs a lot more than it did a year ago, don’t blame George Bush and don’t blame Barack Obama either.
If you want to assign blame, all you need to do is look in the mirror and point a finger at the person staring back at you.
