Gas-burning drivers urged to rethink how they get around
Mar 02, 2007 04:30 AM
Michele Henry
Staff Reporter
The fuel shortage gripping Toronto has environmental and oil industry experts grumbling about the relationship Torontonians have with gas.
Motorists take gas for granted, said Michael Ervin, president of MJ Ervin & Associates, a Calgary-based petroleum and refining consultant firm. Drivers are showing no signs of curbing consumption,he said.
Instead of desperately searching for an open gas station or idling in line-ups at the pump, people should be using this shortage as a wake-up call.
"We should be thinking about ... going back to something more environmentally friendly the next time we buy a family car, or we should use more fuel-efficient cars or drive less," Ervin said yesterday. "We need to stop being hypocritical as a society and stop complaining about high gas prices on one hand and being irresponsible as gas consumers on the other hand."
Besides, he said, if we reduce demand for gas and lower consumption, prices will go down. The cost of gas has risen 17 per cent in the last two weeks, stabilizing at just below $1.
Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth, an Ottawa environmental organization, isn't asking motorists to give up their cars, but to think again about how they get around. Try auto-sharing, instead of owning a car. Buy a weekend transit pass for family outings.
"When you're hauling groceries it's nice to have a car," she said. "Just think about different options."
For Olivastri, the gas shortage also illuminates the "stranglehold" Canada's large oil companies, such as Imperial, have.
More than 200 gas stations in Ontario shut down temporarily this week when the pumps ran dry. A fire at Imperial Oil's Nanticoke, Ont., refinery last week, combined with a CN Rail strike and the annual winter closing of the St. Lawrence Seaway, caused massive disruptions in the distribution of gas.
It all came as a sharp reminder that motorists are at the mercy of the oil companies.
It'll be at least two weeks before the pumps begin running normally.
Olivastri believes the situation should be viewed as an opportunity to change the way access to alternate fuels is controlled.
"Let's make sure we're protecting consumers from corporate control on biofuels."
Jane Savage, of the Canadian Independent Petroleum Marketers Association, said the gas shortage underscores the "vulnerable and fragile" nature of the supply network.
Independent stations get gas from big distributors. But they are not a priority when it comes to refilling their tanks, Savage said, and they're struggling.
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