I am sure that the last few times you have gone to the pump, you probably let out a small “thank you” inside of your head.  Now that gas prices are finally getting back to an acceptable level you might think that consumption would rise.  The good news is that it has not.  Americans are still buying less gas at the pumps then they were before prices hit the roof.

I, for one, find this to be encouraging news.  The problem is that since we have finally started to cut our dependence on foreign oil, will the trend continue?  Certainly as long as we are in our current recession/depression oil consumption will be down.  I find the parallels to our current situation and the 1970s striking.  Today it is SUVs, in the 70s it was muscle cars.  In both situations gas started to get out of the reach of the ordinary citizen.  In the 70s it was due to a shortage mandated by the oil suppliers, today it was caused by the excessive prices.

Even though the 70s oil crisis lead to smaller and more fuel efficient cars, the trend was not long lived, as is evidenced by our current supply of SUVs.  After a short scare, people moved right back to big gas guzzlers.  I hope that we as a nation take this lesson and run with it.  No more gas guzzlers…forever, lest we repeat the errors of the past.

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