Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

Fuel Rationing
As we collectively slide down the peak oil curve, motor fuels will become more scarce. As a
result, fuel will be rationed. Rationing will either be imposed by the market in the form of
higher prices that drive out marginal consumers, or by the government by fiat. A
combination of both forms of rationing is plausible.
Despite the inconvenience, gasoline
and diesel fuel rationing could have
the benefit of permitting the allocation
of fuel to priority users such as
emergency first responders, urban
transit systems, farmers, and truckers
in adequate quantities or at below‐
market prices, so that they could
continue to operate despite
budgetary constraints. At the same
time, however, rationing would mean that others who still have the money to pay for fuel
would not necessarily be able to buy as much as they want, whenever they want, and might
have to curtail their consumption. While local government does not have any jurisdiction
over rationing, we should anticipate that rationing may happen.
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force
Gasoline rationing was considered during the Second Oil Shock of 1978­1979.
Ration coupons were printed, but never issued. Source: Wikimedia Commons
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