Rising gasoline prices may have silver lining
High gasoline prices are awesome.
OK, you might not agree, but a surprising number of Columbus residents do. At least, they see another side to the story.
To them, higher prices could bring investment in fuel-efficient vehicles and alternative fuels, increased interest in public transit and carpooling, and a decreased dependence on oil from politically unstable regions.
But in these days of highoctane carping about gasoline prices, they aren’t saying this too loudly. Unleaded gasoline cost an average of $2.85 a gallon in central Ohio late last week, moving closer to its all-time high of $3.08 last September, AAA said.
“I don’t like paying any more than I have to, either, but too much cheap gas is not good for us,” said Columbus resident John Gideon, who commutes to work by bus or bicycle and is president of the nonprofit Central Ohio Bicycle Advocacy Coalition.
“It’s killing us with global warming, air pollution and an epidemic of inactivity.”
Bottom line: America’s dependence on the automobile is inefficient and unsustainable, Gideon thinks.
“Every time the price goes up, more people see that we need to do things differently.”
It takes a lot to get people to change their habits, though.
Weinland Park resident James Bach doesn’t like reading the paper or turning on the television and hearing people “complain the government isn’t doing anything about gas prices while they drive 40 miles each way to work in vehicles that get 18 miles to the gallon.”
Bach purchased a house within a mile of his job so he can walk to work. He and his wife try to use their car as little as possible.
“If everyone conserved, everyone would pay less” for gas, said Upper Arlington resident Ken Ladell. He commutes to his job Downtown on his bike. “Unfortunately, conservation is unpopular with Americans.”
Regardless of what people think, the prices we paid in the 1990s are probably a thing of the past, said Ben Stuart, engineering professor at Ohio University.
With war in the Middle East and the economies of China and India growing at a rapid pace, “Americans need to be afraid of what demand is going to do to oil prices,” he said. “There is stiff competition for oil reserves, and we need to think about where we are going to get ours.”
Domestic and global demand for oil is expected to grow 50 percent in the next 20 years, double the growth rate since 1980, according to a statement by Jason Grumet, executive director of the National Commission on Energy Policy.
Americans have assumed gas will always be cheap and readily available, Stuart said. “We have a culture of selfishness and a mindset that we deserve low gas prices.”
Now that prices are on the rise, biodiesel and biofuel have become economically viable options, Stuart said. His Ford Excursion SUV runs on biodiesel. But conversion to ethanol and biodiesel, and the development of fuel cells and hybrid vehicles, requires huge investments. Experts say gasoline prices will have to stay at $4 a gallon before many companies will make a big commitment to alternative energy sources.
Even increasingly popular hybrid vehicles, which run on a combined gasoline-electric engine and offer high mileage and low emissions, have yet to become a net plus for drivers financially. Research by Edmunds.com found that gasoline would have to hit $9.60 a gallon or a driver would have to travel more than 63,000 miles a year before the hybrid Civic would cost less to own for five years than a conventional Civic.
However, the $2,100 federal tax credit for the hybrid Civic would reduce that gap considerably. Nevertheless, rising gasoline prices are bringing change.
Americans used 0.6 percent less gasoline last month than they did in March 2005. Participation in the Mid-Ohio Regional Transit Commission’s Rideshare program is up 20 percent. And a survey by the Green Car Congress found 79 percent of Americans have changed their driving habits as a result of high gas prices, and that 45 percent have considered buying a smaller car.
When the picture is fully expanded, some see the conversion to alternative energy sources and more-efficient vehicles as a way to develop cutting-edge industries that will anchor the economy. They also see a cleaner environment as a significant side benefit.
State lawmakers created the Ohio Fuel Cell Initiative in 2003, dedicating $100 million to researchers developing alternative energy technologies.
High prices have started political and economic dialogue, said OSU’s Stuart, and made alternative fuels a practical option.
“There needs to be something ultimately that jolts us out of our old behaviors,” said Sam Spofforth, executive director of Clean Fuels Ohio, a nonprofit group based at the Ohio State University Center for Automotive Research.
“The high prices of gasoline … are causing people to pay attention to various alternative fuels and more-efficient vehicles, if you want to look for a silver lining.”
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