Bloglanta

Right Now the people who really deserve credit are the people who work for Travelers Aid Atlanta. You vaguely see their booth in the airport, but I think most people know nothing about them. Travelers Aid is over a century old but perhaps has not faced a greater challenge than the current one.

By some estimates, over 20,000 people are immigrating to Atlanta right now. Many of these folks have lost everything. Travelers Aid helps them get situated, get basic supplies, access to health care, and all they need to make a new start.

Yoeman’s work they do.

If your organization can supply something of use (500 electric shavers, dozens of passes to the zoo, help locating educare services so people can work, etc) call them at 404.817.7070.

Make a difference!

“And I dreamed I saw the bummers riding shotgun in the sky, turning into butterflies above our nation.”
-“Woodstock,” Crosby, Stills, and Nash

I have to once again borrow/steal the phrase “fear and loathing” from the late Hunter S. Thompson because it aptly describes the situation in this city, state and country. The oil flow in the two pipelines that feed the eastern United States is severely hampered by the damage to the oil refineries on the Gulf Coast.

On Wednesday, Georgia residents responded in their normal, calm manner to this problem by making a crazed rush to the gas pump to fill up their tanks before all the stations ran out of gas. Stations charged obscene prices, close to six or seven dollars a gallon in some places, in order to capitalize on the long lines.

But by Friday, prices had leveled off to more reasonable figures. While driving to the bank from my Little Five Points apartment, I passed four gas stations along North Avenue and Ponce de Leon Avenue. Two of those listed unleaded gas at $3.19 per gallon and two listed it at $3.29 per gallon. This is the first time in all my life living in Georgia that I remember gas ever being over three dollars per gallon.

Also on Friday, the Bush administration ordered 30 million barrels of oil to be released from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and the International Energy Agency will introduce 60 million barrels of gas and petroleum to the market, according to a story on CNN.com. This announcement, along with power returning to several refineries in the Gulf allowing oil production to return at a slow rate, has driven the price for a barrel of crude oil below 70 dollars (67 dollars as of 4:00 p.m. EDT). A colleague on this blog already reported that Gov. Perdue has suspended gas tax collections through the end of September with the hope of driving gas prices down 15 to 20 cents.

The Bush administration and state governments in the Southeast are doing everything they can think of to keep gas prices at a reasonable rate. Gov. Perdue warned Georgians not to engage in panic buying right now because it will only make the situation worse. When I passed those four gas stations today, it was unclear if they were short on or out of gas. There were hardly any cars if any at those stations, which made it more difficult to assess the situation. With tankers having trouble making deliveries because of the hurricane damage to Gulf Coast refineries, it is inevitable that stations are going to run out of gas. People hoarding gas will expedite the problem.

Gas prices will remain extremely high for the next 90 days or so, taking us to the end of the year. But we have gone past the point of no return. I predict the government will eventually have to ration gas similar to the 1970s. Long lines at gas stations will become a common occurrence. High gas prices will become a part of life.

It is all part of a series of bummers and the fear and loathing that has occurred in 2005 all over the world. But even I will not be as happy to see this year come to an end as the residents of the Gulf Coast. Worrying about gas in Atlanta pales in comparison to fighting for survival in New Orleans.

This isn’t really a “news flash” type of blog, but I want the community to be aware that it was just announced that Governor Perdue has halted collection of all state gas taxes through September 30.

“My purpose in temporarily suspending fuel tax collection is to relieve some of the financial burden placed on Georgians by disruptions of our fuel supply resulting from the effects of Hurricane Katrina,” Perdue said at a noon press conference at the state Capitol. “I fully considered the fiscal implications. This moratorium will have no negative effect on the state budget.”

The move is expected to gake 15-20 cents off the cost of each gallon of gas, assuming immediate and full retailer compliance. I wonder if the gas pumps’ computers will be easily changed on a quick enough scale to get this done.

Perdue suspends state gasoline taxes (AJC) [registration required, get a login here]

Edit: The moratorium begins at midnight tonight.

Citizens for Progressive Transit is taking some time out in these times of high gas prices to support MARTA. While our hearts go out to those who have lost so much in the wake of Katrina, we can work as citizens to promote energy conservation and a better transit system. Tonight’s pub crawl will start out at the Irish Bred Pub in Underground at 7:00.

More details can be found on this flyer.

When I passed by the gas station yesterday on my way home, I saw the regular unleaded price at $2.92/gallon. The place was packed with panicked drivers trying to get whatever was left.

This morning, when I left for work, the pumps were shut down. Yesterday’s crowd took what was left. After the power failure on the Gulf to Atlanta pipeline, the AJC reported what was going on, and panic set in before any officials could step in to assure everyone that there was no gas shortage, and a little bit of conservation will carry everyone through for the next couple of days.

A couple of days is how long it will likely take for the empty gas stations to catch their refills.

Over the coming months, as suppliers attempt to fix the Gulf rigs that were dislodged in the course of the storm, theory will become reality. We’ll begin to find out the real price elasticity for oil. Some folks have changed their plans, and others have not. It won’t take long to notice a few different types of responses to this thread:

• Yes, I’m changing plans by driving less
• No, I’m not changing plans, but I’m spending less on other things
• No, I’m rich, so I don’t have to adjust my spending habits. Nyeah nyeah, phbbt! >:-p
• I don’t need to drive because I ride bikes / take transit / walk, and I’m enjoying it.

But at what point do the responses turn to, “Why haven’t our legislators focused on the future? Why havent our local leaders focused on the future?” As reported recently on the front page of the Atlanta Business Chronicle, MARTOC, the state legislative committee charged with focusing on the past and creating scandals out of thin air has done its job very well. While acknowledging the “yeoman’s work” MARTA officials have done toward increasing transparency and accountability, Republican legislators Jill Chambers, Harry Geisinger, and John Wiles have now officially demonstrated through their actions that they’re not willing to offer MARTA any rewards for good behavior.

Chambers: “wondered why MARTA spent thousands of dollars focus-group testing the Breeze Card, which she said she felt was a fairly self-explanatory system.”

Perhaps the focus-group testing is a part of the reason why the system is self-explanatory. Would she rather MARTA implement a system that’s not self-explanatory? Then she could complain that MARTA didn’t focus-group test the system, and then MARTA would have to spend millions more to make the system user-friendly. She would have loved that, I’m sure, just for the political points she would have gained.

MARTA has struggled to think outside the box to bring more money to operations. More money in operations means more service. That’s about as simple as it gets, and they’ve done a remarkably admirable job of it. But then, they get questioned about “derivatives transactions, legal and information technology expenses (the authority is undertaking a roughly $40 million IT overhaul to bring its systems out of the 1980s), and the sale-leaseback agreements on its rail cars and tracks.” While MARTA focuses on its future, MARTOC focuses on the past and whips up scandals out of thin air. MARTOC should have been praising MARTA for thinking outside the box and finding ways to increase service. Their scandal-mongering is just disgusting politics.

Meanwhile, metro Atlanta commuters continue to suffer with too few choices. Oil and gas prices leaped today. With what happened in the Gulf region, the cost of supplying oil will go up, too. Even once everything settles back down, we’ll easily settle down to about $4.00 per gallon at the pumps.

MARTA announced today that they are increasing service in anticipation of greater ridership. Unlike our state and regional leaders, MARTA stepped up to the plate and made the responsible choice.