Higher prices, better behavior

OUR OPINION
Published: August 18, 2008

As the cost of gasoline drifts downward, loosening some of its stranglehold on our wallets, it is a good idea to reflect on what high fuel prices mean.

Many people, witnessing the sky-high cost of gasoline, begin demanding “solutions” to the “problem.”

Exploring alternative energy and drilling in previously off-limits areas — offshore and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge — are some of the options bandied about in the media.

Less often, it seems, do people consider that high gas prices give us an opportunity to be more responsible.

Automobiles have become the great enabler of a convenience-obsessed society. We do things in cars that aren’t necessary. We make multiple trips to stores instead of consolidating all of our errands in
one go. We drive short distances that could have been walked. We let our car idle so that we can sit in an air-conditioned haven while we wait to pick somebody up. We drive just for the fun of it. All of
these acts contribute pollution to the environment.

Various organizations exhort us not to do these things. They challenge us to change our driving habits. But it is not until gasoline reaches $4 a gallon that we actually start taking some of these
suggestions.

Capitalism is an economic system based on self-interest. While it is in our self-interest to see less pollution and less dependence on foreign oil, that is a big picture that we, as individuals, often have
trouble seeing. However, less money in our wallets and pocketbooks is an easy consequence to comprehend.

So, high gas prices spur us to do those things that are good for us, which we wouldn’t ordinarily do.

Of course, the cost of gasoline is still high, so many of us continue to alter our driving behavior. Perhaps, it would be in our interest to continue these altered behaviors even if gasoline prices drop further.

Perhaps we can broaden our view of what is in our best interest.