Response to a reader's comment.

Quote from today's paper, "Still, this year's drop is dramatic enough t worry many energy experts. Gas prices in recent years rose so high that many Americans finally started driving less and buying fuel-efficient cars. Now, as prices plunge, will Americans go back to their wasteful habits? And if so, what will that mean for the nation's energy security and the fight against global warming?"

I wonder what the state of our economy, the environment and our national security would be today if we had learned a lesson from the gas shortages of the 1970s and had started driving fuel-efficient cars, lessening our dependence on foreign oil. We had a chance then, a golden opportunity, to improve the economy, the environment and our national security. All we had to do was change what we drove and how we drove it; we didn't. Because we didn't make the effort, today the economy, the environment and our national security are in worse shape now than they were in the 1970s and we have no one to blame but ourselves. By us I don't mean the U. S. government. I am not saying the government isn't partly responsible but we, the American people, could have voted with our pocket books and bought fuel-efficient cars and adopted fuel-efficient driving habits; we didn't.

I wonder if perhaps we as a species have a genetic defect that prevents us from changing our ways when there is no imminent crisis. Perhaps it is also a genetic defect that causes us to go back to our old patterns of behavior once a crisis has passed, even though it is those patterns of behavior that have caused the crisis to begin with.

The gas shortages of the 70s came as a surprise so maybe we can excuse our return to our old patters of behavior once gas became available again. But there will be no excusing a repeat of that behavior this time. Even though the cost of gas has fallen quickly recently, with the rising energy demands of countries like China and India, today's lower gas prices are only a respite from what will ultimately be permanently higher prices for gas if we don't act now while there is still some time left.

We Americans have a chance to significantly reduce our dependence on foreign oil by simply driving more slowly. By driving more slowly we reduce the price of gas, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and improve our national security, our economy and the environment. Will we look back one day and be able to congratulate ourselves on learning from past mistakes or will our children one day ask us why we were so set in our ways, so ostrich-like with our heads buried in our gas tanks, that we kept the pedal to the metal and sold our country to foreigners?

Now more than ever we need people who think along these lines to do their best to convince others that the most patriotic action an American can take is to drive no faster than 65 mph. Acting together, we can make a difference. The effort it will take to make a difference is small and the potential rewards are so very large and so very important to the future of America. Please, speak up!

Robert,

Please take this in the best light possible. Don't be naïve. Gasoline prices are never coming down again. I appreciate the sentiment but the best thing for this country will be when gasoline prices reach $8 to $10 a gallon. That is the average price of gasoline most of the world has been paying for years. And what have they done about it. They have adapted. They have taken over the road freight and moved it the rails. They have well constructed mass transit infrastructure. They have been using smaller cars and conserving fuel for years.

The gasoline powered automobile base in this country is so large that it will take time to change over the fleet but in the next couple of years we will begin to see innovation take over. This innovation could make us a manufacturing power again but at very least it will make us more independent from foreign sources of oil and that will have huge impact on world politics and world power.

Your suggestion, while well meaning is only a short term solution. The tipping point we need for the long term is innovation. I say double the price of gasoline through taxes over the next five years and use the revenue to build the infrastructure and encourage innovation. Stop the short term thinking that has gotten us into this mess now.

My response:

James thank you for taking the time to reply. I agree with much of what you have said. There are some benefits to the high price of gas. After all it is the high price of gas that has caused many people to start taking public transportation, car pool and drive less. Even if driving 65 has no effect at all on the price of gasoline, I believe there are still many benefits that will come from a national movement to drive 65 mph. For example:

• When people slow down, they burn less gas. Regardless of what happens to the price of gas, slowing down saves everyone money. The higher the price of gas, the more money drivers save.
• Burning less gas pours less carbon into the atmosphere; that benefits everyone on the planet.
• Our dependence on foreign oil is a grave threat to our national security. Driving 65 will reduce our country's oil consumption. Not only is driving 65 a contribution we can all make to national security but I believe it is also a positive action we can take to show support for our troops.
• A national movement to drive 65 is something that everyone who drives can participate in. This is something that has the power to unite us in action towards a common goal. The last time I can think of when America was united in action towards a common goal was our effort to win WW II. We know what America achieved then, when it acted as one.

My goal is to get millions of Americans acting as one. As I see it, this is a worthy goal, an attainable goal and one that benefits everyone, not just Americans, but people the world over. I am not underestimating the difficulty of achieving my goal but as difficult as achieving it may be, it is not impossible. Little is gained by shrinking in the face of a challenge.

Americans have come to rely on the "government" to solve the problems our country faces. While your long term suggestions are sound and point to a better future, they have two drawbacks: they will take years to achieve and they depend on our elected representatives taking action. Reducing personal gas consumption by driving 65 can start today and leaves the government out of the loop.

Americans seem to forget that our democracy is based on government of the people, for the people and by the people.

Our elected representatives have forgotten the "for the people part". America and Americans be damned; their chief concern is maintaining and extending their grip on power. You have to look no farther than the headlines in yesterday's SF Chronicle for another example of this, "As Gas Prices Soar, Congress Bickers".

Since for the people is not popular in Washington, I am suggesting is that it is time for Americans to try by the people.

America was started by a group of people who had the courage to take matters into their own hands in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds; "Win independence from England? Don't be naïve!" They worked, fought and died together and won independence.

In many ways, what I have in mind is a modern-day fight for independence. My hope is that Americans by the millions will respond to this challenge and act as one. My hope is that today's generation of Americans will work together to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. If we do, one day we will also be remembered as a great generation.

Here is a simple formula for success:

• Drive 65
• Convince one person to drive 65
• Convince one person to convince one person to drive 65

In my blog of April 9^th I quoted the owner of a local gas station as saying the price of gasoline would be $5 this summer. At the time, gas still cost less than $4 and the thought of $5 gasoline seemed like something out of a science fiction movie or a very bad dream. However, oil prices made their biggest single-day leap ever Friday. The seemingly unimaginable prospect of oil costing $150 a barrel could happen by the Fourth of July. At that price, newscasters are saying that gas will indeed cost $5 a gallon.

I suggest you look fondly at the price of gas as it stands today because as I have suggested we may look at $4 gas as the good old days.

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference