TheAlbatross Posted:

As you know, gas prices are absolutely rediculous. Im not all that educated about the subject but is there any way prices will come down? Someone i know suggested drilling in Alaska. Is that feasible?

1) “ridiculous”

2) No, there is absolutely no chance they will come down, ever.

3) Even with prices “sky high”, you pay half what I pay for gas as it is – try driving in England some time and then feel the pain of gas. (hurr hurr.)

The real problem here is that fossil fuels are running out and CO2 is causing global warming. Your viable choices are as follows:

SHORT TERM:

* when you do drive, carpool, and get gas money off your pbumengers.

* if you usually drive to work, work from home as often as possible.

* buy a smaller car – ditch that SUV, it makes the rest of the world cry (where I live, you get taxed extra if you own an SUV). Lighter cars take less gas to drive (it’s simple physics)

* buy a more efficient car. Get a diesel or hybrid.

MEDIUM TERM:

* lobby your state for better public transport.

* consider taking public transport (especially if you live in a city). If you “don’t do public transport” because that’s what poor people use, then YOU ARE A fabulous person AND YOU CAN PAY EXTRA ON YOUR GAS AND LIKE IT.

* move closer to where you work / work closer to where you live. Living a long drive from work was always only a luxury that you could only afford because gas is cheap. 90% of the world lives within walking distance of their workplace, but there are other options, like riding a bike.

LONG TERM:

* when you consider getting in your car, if the trip is going to be less than 20 mins, then don’t drive it. Walk, or ride that bike! Short car trips and city driving account for 50% of pollution in the US. Oh, and this will stop you being a lard-bum at the same time.

* Generally, just travel less. Seriously. Americans drive 2x more than anyone else in the world and 30% comes from living in neighbourhoods that were designed on the bumumption that gas would be cheap forever (oops!)

* if you live somewhere that driving less is totally impractical (e.g. in the middle of ****ing nowhere) and you can’t afford to pay more for gas, YOU WILL HAVE TO MOVE.

* if you do a job where you have to drive a lot, YOU WILL HAVE TO CHARGE YOUR CUSTOMERS MORE AND THEY WILL HAVE TO LIKE IT.

Remember, gas is not the only thing that relies on oil… the plastics industry does too. If they drill in Alaska and bring up some more oil, it’s not going to bring gas prices down, it’s just going to slow the rate that they go up. Eventually, we’ll all be using electric cars because gas will be totally uneconomical. Don’t worry, electric cars will be “as good as” gas powered cars by the time they get popular.