When it comes to ever increasing prices at the gas pump, one sentiment echoes across the board. Regardless of location, class or even
political party, the resounding question of the U.S. citizen cruising by the fuel station is simply this: When’s the price gonna come down?
Nobody likes the idea of forking out more than $2.50 per gallon. But the rising gas prices provide an opportunity to search for something better. If having to pay $50 every week to fuel up the family Land Cruiser is what it takes to finally convince our nation that we need to find better energy sources, then so be it.
Already, car dealerships have reported a serious trend toward consumers who are willing to pay more money for a “less” car: Less in size, less reliant on gasoline, less money from the pocketbook later on. Of course the problem with introducing smaller, more efficient cars into the United States (such as the European “Smart Car”) is that these vehicles are at high risk of being clobbered in the event of a tiff with any “normal” (read: school bus-sized) sport utility vehicle.
Another possible benefit of high gas prices and money-conscious Americans is the likelihood that the mass transit system will thrive under such conditions. Communities relying on public transportation will produce and maintain better buses, trains, etc. Mass transportation, as well as carpooling, is easy on the wallet and will become even more convenient and modernized if disgruntled motorists decide to utilize these public services.
Besides an increase in public vehicles, fewer cars on the road could mean an upswing in pedestrians as well. In America’s weight-conscious society, it seems that unmanageable fuel prices could be just the ticket to overcoming obesity. A walk down to the corner market cuts both consumer spending as well as inches off the waistline.
President Bush has recognized the problem of sky-high gas prices just like the rest of us. Although widespread concern over fuel cost would be the perfect opportunity to introduce national conversation and legislation on conserving energy, reducing oil dependence and finding more efficient and clean sources of power, Capitol Hill has taken a drastically different approach. Bush has called for a decrease in foreign oil dependence but still insists that drilling into Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a good idea. The newest brilliant Bush plan in overcoming pricey gas is to build more nuclear power plants.
Doesn’t it sound fun to spend the next billion years deciding what to do with the resulting nuclear waste? It will probably be something along the lines of trafficking dangerous, radioactive material across crowded state highways, then shoving it under a culturally significant land mass, if the Yucca Mountain fiasco is any indication of where our country’s nuclear politics are headed.
Nationally, our energy crisis is being dealt with in all the wrong ways. U.S. citizens should not be encouraged to rely on wildlife refuge oil fields and questionable nuclear technology. Instead, we should be encouraged to rely on the values of efficiency, cooperation and our own two feet.

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