As I passed a few gas stations this week and saw $1.89 regular, less than half the cost just a couple months back, and after the initial sense of relief that a tank will less than $30 and not nearly $60, I can’t help but wonder of the longer term impact of this dramatic fall in prices.
One of the unintended consequences of this drop is that the talk of finding alternative energy sources has dropped from being a huge issue early in the recent election campaign to a topic barely discussed. There was also talk during the campaigning of creating ‘green’ jobs based on these alternative energy sources. I understand that there’s a delicate balance, that, at least in the short term, the high gasoline prices was doing far more harm than any future good that would come of it. I just hope we don’t become complacent and assume these low prices will continue indefinitely.
Joe
Future Gas Pains
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My husband and I were discussing the same thing yesterday…it’s frustrating when alt. energies come to the forefront only when there’s an atmosphere of consumer complaint, instead of looking at the long (and short!) term consequences.
Even on a micro-level, we were chastising ourselves for running out to just one store recently, which we would never have dreamed of when gas prices were higher. A good reminder to all of us.