So, you don’t like $4 a gallon gas? Well, there’s a simple way you can effectively cut the price to $2, or even $1.
Join a carpool or vanpool.
Throwing such a personal punch at the solar plexus of the international oil cartel is both effective and timely. National pump prices hit $4.005 over the weekend, passing the symbolically important $4 mark for the first time. With crude oil prices nearing a stunning $140 a barrel last Friday, worse may be coming.
Local prices were a trifle under the national average, at $3.979 in Colorado and $3.878 in Denver, according to fuel-price research site . Diesel, vital to truckers and farmers, weighed in at $4.762 a gallon nationally.
Congress already has reacted to rising fuel prices by summoning oil company executives and reviling them. But the law of supply and demand can’t be repealed by vituperation alone, no matter how many politicians join in this modern version of an auto de fe (sorry, pun intended.) The only way to seriously reduce prices is to either increase supply, reduce demand, or both.
On the supply side, the U.S. could eventually increase domestic supplies, though not dramatically, by such means as drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve and areas of the continental shelf currently off-limits, as President Bush suggested Sunday. Even if we’re willing to accept the environmental tradeoffs, however, it would take years for such production to make a measurable impact on gas prices. And increased use of fossil fuels, no matter what their source, inevitably adds to the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, accelerating the pace of global climate change.
If Congress is interested in doing something positive to lower pump prices and help the environment, it should repeal the 54-cents-a-gallon tariff on Brazilian ethanol.
In the short run, however, conservation is the cheapest and most environmentally responsible way to bring gas prices down. If you can replace an automobile trip with a bicycle or walking trek, do it. For that daily trip to work, consider RTD, either using the four existing light rail lines or the many bus routes.
It’s now crystal clear that RTD’s FasTracks plan is one of the smartest decisions ever made by metro voters. Unfortunately, it won’t bring new rail routes on line until early 2013, when the West Corridor opens, with others following as late as 2017.
RTD ridership jumped 8 percent in the first quarter of 2008 over the last year and is likely to grow even faster as pump prices skyrocket.
But if for some reason RTD doesn’t work for you, consider carpooling or vanpooling. Just sharing a ride with one other person could effectively cut your gas price to $2 a gallon — or $1 if you get four in your pool. And don’t forget the savings in wear and tear on your car.
For commutes of 20 miles or more, vanpooling is an effective alternative, and one that frees up time for productive work that would otherwise be wasted driving.
The Denver Regional Council of Governments (DRCOG) RideArrangers Program can help get you in a carpool or van pool. Call 303-458-POOL or visit . for information. In northern Colorado, visit . or call 970-224-6148.
The money and aggravation you save will be your own.
