Price of gas breaks $4

At the Bayside Exxon station along the Horace Harding Expressway, unleaded gasoline was just one one-hundredth of a penny under $4 on Earth Day, Tuesday, April 21. The same station was selling a gallon of milk for a penny under $3.
Councilmembers James Gennaro and David Weprin showed up wearing “MAKE FUEL NOT WAR” buttons on their lapels and holding vials of yet another liquid. They were not selling their product, but rather, selling the idea of it.
“We’re here today to say that we can do something that is in our best economic and environmental interest and that is to move dramatically as a city, as a state, as a country towards the use of so-called biofuels,” Gennaro said, gesturing with a clear vial of biodiesel in his hand.
The logical first step is not to use the domestically produced biofuels to power vehicles, but to heat homes, Gennaro and Weprin said, noting that home heat is a source of 79 percent of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions.
The Councilmembers have a bill in the City Council that would require all heating oil in the city to become a blend of 80 percent standard oil and 20 percent biodiesel, or “B20 bioheat,” by 2013.
Utilizing B20, the Councilmembers argue, would reduce American dependency on foreign oil, save New Yorkers money and give business to farmers producing switch grass and other renewable sources like soy and vegetable oil, from which B20 is made.
Paired with the recently passed statewide bioheat tax credit, which would reduce the cost of B20 down to that of standard heating oil, New Yorkers have an affordable way of reducing their carbon footprint, Gennaro and Weprin explained.
“You can’t tell me that someone’s not taking advantage of a situation, taking advantage of our dependency on foreign oil.”
Developing biofuel technology for heating homes would also expand the use of alternative fuels for city vehicles, the Councilmembers said, noting a recent directive to retrofit ferries with biodiesel engines.
“At the end of the day it all comes from crude oil,” Gennaro noted, explaining that the Middle East is the source of gasoline, diesel oil and home and building heating oil.
New Yorkers have a chance to change all that, the pair said, noting that Mayor Bloomberg and his administration are supporters and promoters of biofuels.
However, the same cannot be said for all consumers.
“I don’t think we should press forward with biofuels at all. I think it’s nonsense,” said a man named Nick, filling up a tank that would cost him $66.
“I think it’s time for hydrogen fuel cells, is what I think,” Nick said, explaining that hydrogen fuel technology, which is greenhouse gas-free, has been overlooked because it cuts out the electric and gas company and can be produced right in the home.
“It’s a necessity. You can’t go without it,” said Kevin Brett who was filling up his Verizon van and thinks his company will likely start charging more for phone service because of the gas increase.
“That’s like saying if they charged $5 for water - you need it, you’re gonna buy it - you need gasoline,” said Brett who is skeptical about biofuels, claiming that oil companies own all the patents for the technology.
However, anything to avoid paying the premium gas and heating oil prices is a good thing, Brett acknowledged. His personal vehicle is a Honda Civic that gets 38 miles to the gallon, he said, smiling.
“For people who are financially strapped, definitely, it’s a problem,” exclaimed Joseph Stawasz, who usually fills up his tank in New Jersey, where gas is much cheaper.
“But for people who are upper middle or upper class, really, they don’t have to worry, they’re always going to have money to pay for it,” he said.
“Believe me. Sad but true.”