Gassed

By Jeff Poole
Review Managing Editor
Published: June 26, 2008

The price of gasoline over the years has made us complacent.
With the exception of a period in the 1970s when an international oil embargo contributed to a rise in gasoline prices in the United States, we have been able to fill our cars with the precious liquid relatively cheaply.
We never thought twice about gas when it was $0.89 a gallon. When it climbed up over $1 that was news.
We have been able to travel where we want to, when we want. Cars and planes, along with the gasoline we use to fuel them, have given us the ability to go places in a period of time that would have been unthinkable to people through most of history. What used to take days, now takes hours.
The functional effect of this is that our world has shrunk. People can spread out across the country or the world and still stay close. People who 500 years ago might have never interacted because of where they lived, now routinely rub elbows.
But the ride looks to be coming to an end. The price of gasoline is soaring - routinely topping $4 a gallon - and many of us are being forced to cut down on our consumption. Less consumption means less travel, which means that we have to learn to stay put.
Shopping locally takes on a whole new meaning. We’re more likely to seek local entertainment than strike out on adventure. The cost of travel–even relatively short trips–becomes a primary consideration in our decision-making process.
The ability of the human race to adapt is spectacular and as gasoline becomes a bigger drain on the household budget, people can see that in our modern society, driving long distances to satisfy our needs is not always necessary. Much of what we must have can be found right where we are.
So, shorten the distances you travel. Walk, don’t drive. Explore our community. See where the TOOT bus can take you and what options exist along the way.
If you are waiting for gasoline prices to go down so that you can resume your life, the wait might be long. A growing demand for crude oil - the main ingredient in gasoline - by booming countries like the United States, India and China, will continue to put a strain on international oil supplies.
And these supplies are not infinite.
Scientists say that the world production of crude oil will peak and then dwindle. It is just a question of when. And some predict that “when” will be some time in the next 100 years.
In the meantime, car companies are looking to put out more fuel-efficient vehicles and, hopefully, there are industries out there looking to find alternate sources of energy. Plans to drill offshore or in protected areas of Alaska are, at best, a stall. Ultimately, other solutions will have to be found. If we can make computers that fit in our pockets and laptops that slide into envelopes, surely we can improve on the gasoline engine. It’s a matter of political will and infrastructure.
Gasoline changed the way human beings live. It is only natural that less gasoline - whether caused by embargoes, high prices or dwindling supply - will morph human living too.
It’s time to prepare for the change.