Workplace Calisthenics: Fuel access a luxury some take for granted

It was dj vu only I was driving on the wrong side of the road.

I had seen this before the snaking line in my windshield of approximately 35 cars was inching forward to fill up with gasoline. The furtive glances wrapped with disgust and impatience I had seen before. The steepled fingers and mutterings of "oh God" rippled up and down the line. I had seen this before it was 1973.

But, when I looked at my watch it was Sept. 11, 2000.

Maybe squashed between Firestone and Ford, George and Al and Ben and Jerry, you missed a significant economic event: the United Kingdom, for several days, shut down. While on a vacation in the laconic streams and hills of the Cottswold area of England, my wife and I began to see "No Petrol" signs on gas stations. As our gauge edged toward empty, we frantically joined hordes of people in Europe who were willing to wait up to two hours to just suck up a few liters of fuel.

While in Ireland a few days before Sept. 11, I read about the blockades of refineries in Scotland, Wales and England. Big deal, some angry people parking their trucks and tractors in front of fuel depots. On our way to the Ring of Kerry I said to my wife, "It looks like some zealots are in a snit over the price of fuel. They have to eat; they will go back to work soon."

Right on cue, I stepped into the role of the ugly American. My lifestyle of consumption blinded me to the economic and social realities of what happens to a culture built on top of a 50-gallon oil barrel.

Most Europeans have been consistently paying almost $5 per gallon for gasoline with approximately $3.50 of that amount in taxes. They like their superhighways, schools, universal health care, national security and pensions, but they don't like having only 40 percent of every paycheck as spendable income.

Throughout Europe, they have reaching the tipping point.

This is the point at which the benefits are negated by the cost. We need to learn two things from the Europeans' experience during the past few weeks.

First, the cost of energy can and will pull the plug on this healthy economy. I could not believe how quickly and completely the economy of England was brought to its knees when the "No Petrol" signs started to make their debut.

The house of cards fell quickly. Think about it. If there is no fuel for an automobile-dependent society, people cannot get to work. When employees cannot get to work, products are not shipped. When products are not shipped stores close their doors after massive panic buying. When panic rules, law enforcement loses its ability to control.

On our final night in England, we were instructed to park our rental car (with just enough gas to get to the airport) under a light with the fuel door facing the front of the hotel to dissuade someone from stealing the gas. It was not a restful evening in jolly old England.

Second, we will live to regret our gluttony. What has the United States done since the oil embargo of 1973 to create energy independence? Even though gasoline is selling for $1.50 per gallon, why are we panic-buying bulbous sport utility vehicles and, at the same time, subsidizing mass transit buses and trains cruising around rattling with empty seats?

There is no strategic thinking about energy in this nation. While we have it, we spend it. Hey, we reason, we are all just consumers, and as long as we can pay our Visa bills, what is the big deal?

When gasoline hits $2 per gallon in Springfield, you probably will call or write your Congressman. When gasoline reaches $3 a gallon you will park your SUV and check a bus schedule.

When gasoline nudges $4 a gallon you will dust off your kid's bicycle.

And when the numbers are changed at your local gas station to $5 per gallon, you just may blockade a refinery.

(Dr. Cal LeMon solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting. His Springfield company, The Executive Edge, can be contacted via the Business Journal at sbj@sbj.net.)