Why Lower Gas Prices are Bad for Us

The Good Human is reminding us all why these low-by-last-year’s-standards gas prices aren’t a good thing. People around the country have been breathing a sigh of relief as gas prices have slid from highs above $4 a gallon to less than $1.50, and it’s easy to understand why. After all, the economy is in the toilet and people are losing their jobs left and right – it’s one less thing to worry about.

But when gas prices were high, there was a lot more motivation to find a cleaner, renewable solution. There was a mad rush to trade in SUVs for smaller, more efficient vehicles and a huge increase in public transit patronage. Now, people are going back to their old habits.

From The Good Human:

I do realize that when gas shot up to $5 a gallon in major cities that people stopped buying oversized school buses to commute alone to work in. I also realize that more people started taking public transportation, too. I get that, it’s a good thing, and it was about time. While the rest of the world has been downsizing their automobiles, riding Vespas, and investing in high-speed efficient rail travel, we were on a binge for what Doug Fine calls “ROAT’s” – Ridiculously Oversized American Trucks. (If you have not read Fine’s book Farewell, My Subaru, you are missing out big time – here is my review.) We could not get enough of these vehicles, and they kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger – until they became a joke unto themselves. I will never forget the time I was in France at an outdoor cafe and a Hummer drove by on those little skinny streets they have. The people at the table next to me (about 3 inches away – this is France we are talking about here) started pointing and laughing at the driver, making fun of the truck. I laughed along too, as I think they are dumb…but a lot of people don’t and found themselves with these behemoths sitting still in their driveway because they could not afford the gasoline to run them anymore. And while the gas prices were hurting my wallet as well, I could not help but be happy that the prices were going to make people think long-term about the cars and trucks they buy; but then gas prices started falling.

You would think that people would have learned a lesson from super high gas prices and realize that another price increase is inevitable. Some people did, and some didn’t, but one thing’s for sure: this isn’t going to last. Reality is going to hit again, and soon.

Link [The Good Human]
Photo credit: Flickr user scottfeldstein

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