As the price of gasoline races past $4 a gallon, I hear more and more people complaining about it.
- Some people are saying that they will curtail their vacation plans.
- I have clients who are cutting back on their monthly contributions to their investments.
- Some politicians are suggesting that we tax "big oil" companies, taking away their profits.
- Still more policitians are suggesting that the government have a "tax holiday," as though that would solve any long term issues related to the high cost of gas. (In fairness, this is one area where I agree with Barack Obama, who has said that he does not support a tax holiday on gasoline).
An ABC News Poll suggests that Americans are angry and worried about the price of gasoline. Here are some highlights from the poll:
- 94% said they are dissatisfied with the price of gasoline.
- 75% said that in response to gas prices, they will either spend less on other things, save less, or go into debt to make up the difference.
- 80% said they are worried that the price of gasoline could have long term negative effects on the economy.
- 25% said that they were experiencing serious financial hardship as a result.
- In general, Democrats are more angry about gas prices than Republicans (Democrats are more angry about EVERYTHING than Republicans). Women are more angry than men (again...), and people who live on the east coast are more worried than people who live on the west coast (does that surprise anyone?).
Here is the kicker: that poll was taken in 2005, when the price of gas was averaging $2.61 a gallon!
Now if you're watching a television show, and you don't like the program, you change the channel, or you turn it off. If a concert costs too much money, you don't buy the tickets. If a guy is selling a car for three or four times its book value, you don't gripe about it, you just don't buy it.
Gasoline is the same way.
If you think the price of gas is too high, then stop buying it. Gas is a commodity like everything else, and the people who are selling it will sell it for as much as they think you will pay for it. And that's okay, there is nothing wrong with making as much profit as possible on a product. They own the gas! It belongs to them, and if they think you will pay $10 a gallon for it, that's what they will charge. The only thing you can do about it is to stop buying it.
The idea of not buying gas is so foreign to most of us, we cannot even fathom living without it. And maybe it is unreasonable to think that we can completely stop buying it. But you can certainly reduce the amount of gas you purchase by 50, 70, or even 90%. How?
1. Find another way to get around. I am seeing more and more people riding the bus, commuting by bicycle, or even walking to their destinations. Even still, drivers act as if the price of gas is under a dollar a gallon. I don't see anyone carpooling. If I told you that the city offers you free rides, nearly around the clock, for a few dollars each week, wouldn't you want to take advantage? If I told you that at the same time you were saving hundreds of dollars a month on gas, you were also getting in shape, and feeling a lot better, and reducing your contribution to air pollution, wouldn't you want to ride your bike to work? If you knew that there were three other people at work who drive the same route as you, at the same time as you, why not carpool?
2. SLOW DOWN. It is a proven fact that the faster you drive, the more gasoline you use. But people are still driving extremely fast, and very aggressively. This isn't NASCAR, people. You don't always have to get there fast. If you would just drive a little slower, you would be buying gas a lot less often.
3. Look for ways to not drive. Sunday night, Davey and I rode our bikes to church. It was only four miles, and we were going to be outside Sunday night anyway, so we figured, "why not?" It was a lot of fun. But many people seemed really surprised to see us pull up on bikes. One person looked at us with this exasperated expression and said, "I could NEVER ride that far." It was four miles! I recently watched a lady get into her car, drive two blocks to the local Subway restaurant, get a sandwich, get back into her car, and drive back to work. TWO BLOCKS! She said she ate at Subway because she was trying to lose weight. I'm not kidding.
4. Get creative with your work schedule. A company in Claremore, just outside Tulsa, has changed its work schedule to four day work weeks. Employees work ten hour days. The owner says that as long as he is getting forty hours out of his people, and his customers are taken care of, it is a win-win. The workers say it has made a huge difference in their budget.
5. Move. Or change jobs. Instead of complaining about the cost of gas, either move closer to work, or get a job that is closer to your house. There was a time when moving or changing jobs was a radical adjustment, just to save money on gas, but no longer. It is getting to the point where most people will not have the luxury of living thirty miles from work. If you are reasonably fit, or have an interest in becoming so, anything under fifteen miles each way is fair game for a bicycle commute. Living in the city means you have public transportation available. Take the bus, or the train.
6. Carpool. If you can get three friends to share the ride with you, you just reduced your dependence on gas by nearly 75%. 
The way to reduce the price of gas is to reduce your dependence on it.
In fact, it is the only real way to do it. If politicians want to give Americans relief at the pump, they need to make public transportation more accessible, create safe bicycle lanes on major streets, and give tax breaks to people who don't drive.
Reduced demand means reduced cost.
The cool thing is that by the time that cost and demand fall in line with each other, people may not care. They will be so happy, thin, and rich that they won't want to go back to cars.
What do you think?
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