Got gas?

I remember road trips with my family, they were fun. One memory is of my parents who would often get very excited to travel into SC to buy cheap gas: 80 cents/gallon. By the time I had my first car I was paying approximately 1.50/gal for gas. Of course, those older than me can remember gas even cheaper than that, but oh how we miss the good old days.

A news article today says gas prices may reach $4 this summer, "Retail gasoline prices pulled back slightly from record levels Tuesday and gave some consumers a small break, but a new government forecast said gas could reach as high as $4 a gallon during the summer driving season."

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported this month that, "monthly average pump prices will peak near $3.60 a gallon in June, but could rise as high as $4 a gallon at times." Most experts, including the government are predicting that the higher prices will have an impact on demand during the peak time of the summer...well duh!

Diesel fuel is also going up in price. Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. says "we'll set a new record this week" for diesel prices. This is alarming, because diesel fuel transports most of our food. So we ought to expect food prices to increase, yet again this year.

If these increases continue, eventually America (and other countries) are going to have to make more drastic changes in our oil consumption. Recently there's been many more hybrid cars developed and marketed in the US. The Toyota Prius is the #1 hybrid right now, but it still doesn't get that much better gas millage than my two door Saturn coupe. However, this is balanced out by our rarely driven gas hog, Stella (right).

Something is going to have to be done soon. If gas prices continue to climb, more and more lower income citizens won't be able to afford a car. This will effectively drive a larger stake between the upper and lower classes.

I look forward to a time when oil isn't our best and primary source of transportation energy. But for now, we must simply learn to be more efficient with what we have and make Al Gore proud.