I’ve been driving more lately. Between a September packed full of work events, a commitment to camping every month since April (and hopefully every month through to March) and starting yesterday a transit strike in York Region, I’ve been seeing the inside of my car a lot more that I’m used to lately. And that means a lot more trips to the pumps and consequently a reminder of the hate-love relationship that many people experience with gasoline.
Like many things gasoline is complicated. It has enabled us to live the lives we are now – as a cheap, portable fuel that drives us, our lifestyles, and our economy. And while the local (as in where we extract oil from) and long-term (as in climate change) impacts can be devastating, our adoption of gasoline powered engines was considered a cleaner alternative to horses and coal. And, as I recently was reminded at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the discovery of gasoline resulted in a significant decline in whaling at a time when whale population depletion was getting critical.
But as you likely already know the ending of the story isn’t looking as good. Oil is a finite resource, prices at the pump are climbing and climate change is already happening. Whether these crises significantly affect the way we live in 30 years, 60 years, or even in 100 years, is yet to be seen. And all the driving we do takes away time from our family, friends and community. The time we’ve relied on gasoline for how we live, move around and feed ourselves will only be a short blip in human history yet it seems completely normal to so many of us.
To not end on a negative note, even though I’ve generally been feeling pretty blue the last couple of days, I’ll quote the band Po’ Girl and their song “Gasoline” that I listened to on my slow drive home on the 401 today.
Gasoline gasoline
It’s dragged on too long
What should have been
A weekend affair
Cause there are stories to be told
And that’s what we’re made up of oh
All the stories in our hearts cause in our hearts
Is what we are
—
Masthead photo courtesy of Rennett Stowe