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November 10, 2005

Despite the price, we still need to use less gas

Ladies, are you breathing a sigh of relief because the price of gasoline has dropped somewhat since the post-Katrina chaos? Well …don’t.

Just because it’s cheaper right now, doesn’t mean gas is a bargain – at least not in the environmental sense.

No matter how much it costs at the pump, the price to the planet is still the same. Whether you pay $3.00 a gallon or thirty cents, the gasoline you and I and millions of other drivers burn in our engines is still the primary source of air toxics in the U.S., says the Environmental Protection Agency. Air toxics are pollutants known or suspected to cause cancer or other serious health or environmental effects. I wish the cheaper gas got, the safer it got. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it works.

Regardless of its price, burning gasoline is also one of the biggest boogey men when it comes to global warming. Why? Because burning any fossil fuel releases carbon dioxide. Put enough carbon dioxide, or CO2, into the atmosphere and it acts like a big blanket, keeping in all the heat building up in the sky below. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, the cars and trucks we drive generate a lion’s share of the CO2 created in this country. I’m a driver, hear me roar?

Even if gas at the pump were free, the price tag to get it there would still be enormous. Look at the billions we as taxpayers are paying to protect our oil interests in the Middle East. And to rebuild the oil rigs and refineries that got demolished when Hurricanes Katrina and Rita careened through the Gulf Coast earlier this fall. And to clean up the millions of gallons of oil that are spilled in U.S. waters each year.

In fact, while the price of gas at the pump may be less today than it was a month ago, according to AAA, the average price of gasoline is still nearly 40 cents higher than it was a year ago.

That’s not what I call a bargain.

Instead of spending money on gas, I’d rather fund my son’s college education or buy an extra gallon of organic milk…something that’s really worth the money you pay for it.

I can make that choice, by choosing to drive less and still get where I want to go. How? Thanks to the overall high prices at the pump, car pools are back in fashion. So is taking the bus and other forms of mass transit. I can telecommute to work one or two days a week rather than drive. I can keep my car tuned up so that it runs as efficiently as possible when I do drive. If I drove a car that had a diesel engine, I’d explore the option of converting the engine so that it ran on biodiesel, an exciting fuel alternative that doesn’t use gasoline at all.

Sometimes you use your clout by spending your money. Sometimes you use it by keeping your money in your pocket.

When it comes to gas, we’re all better off keeping as much of our money in our pockets as possible…regardless of the price.

For more ideas on how to use less gas and save money at the pump, click here.

And please, stop in at the Woman-to-Woman Forum and let us know what clever ways you’ve found to save gas.