It cost $61 to fill my gas tank last week. Next time, it will probably cost even more.
Nobody wants to fork over more of their hard-earned dollars for any product or service, even when they live comfortably. Maybe especially when they live comfortably, since privilege provides the luxury of time to really stew about certain issues.
Gas-price increases tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine pose an existential threat to Democrats, from the White House down to local levels. Republicans also would be hurt by soaring gas prices if one of them were president, even if the chief executive has little to do with these fluctuations.
Currently, prices are above $4 a gallon for the first time since 2008. Some experts say $4.50 or even $5 is not out of the question. While very little Russian oil is sold in the U.S., investors’ reluctance to bid on Russian oil exports elsewhere in the world affects prices here, too. A bedrock principle of economics — when supply is low and demand is high, prices increase — applies.
One area where supply is keeping up with demand, however, is the production of news stories about “pain at the pump.” These reports typically feature angry or disgruntled drivers who share their fill-up totals (as I did above) and a talking head with dire warnings about how high prices could go, like some reverse limbo dancer slithering over a gas nozzle.
Said stories are less likely to contain harder truths about Americans’ fuel consumption. We seldom see or hear reports that question the country’s obsession with gas-guzzling vehicles, often two or more to a household, carting around a driver and maybe one passenger, both of whom could fit in a compact with room to spare for a small elephant.
Nor do these reports focus on Americans’ indifference to public transportation. Many of us prefer to hop in our cars and go, instead of checking schedules, walking to a bus stop, or boarding a subway. These all require time and planning and are somehow less cool than taking to the open road on our own.
Instead, Americans are advised to check tire pressure, drive more slowly and use a phone app to identify lower-priced stations. Good recommendations that fail to address a central truth: Most Americans drive too much, with little thought for the environmental consequences.
It’s no coincidence that air pollution decreased dramatically during COVID lockdowns. Fewer cars were on the road and fewer planes were in the sky, sending fewer pollutants into the atmosphere. Some densely populated urban areas saw decreases in pollutants ranging from 10 to 35 percent.
Hybrid and electrically powered vehicles, while an improvement over their fossil-fuel-dependent predecessors, aren’t the best solution either. These cars still tie up too many resources to manufacture and operate. Some critics argue that the environmental impact of the batteries alone negates many of the benefits. Better to plow those investment dollars into supporting more public transportation, while making these options greener simultaneously.
It won’t happen overnight. The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) notes that 45 percent of Americans have no access to public transportation. I don’t know if that includes areas like my own Alliance, Ohio, served by a county bus system with a handful of routes, many of which involve transferring from one bus to another just to reach the next largest city, Canton, a 20-minute ride by car down the road.
The APTA – hardly a disinterested party, to be sure – notes public transportation is safer and cheaper than driving. It estimates that the average American household spends 16 cents out of every dollar on transportation and could save almost $10,000 annually by cutting back to one car and using public transportation instead.
Of course, public transportation is a long-term solution for a nation looking for a short-term fix. A gas-tax holiday might ease the current pricing pain, if any savings actually trickle down to consumers, and if the resultant lack of funds to repair roads and bridges didn’t end up being an example of robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Regardless, a tax break would be only a band-aid for a nation that needs to reassess priorities and realize that the future is less about supporting an unsustainable transportation model than transitioning to methods that are environmentally friendly, even if they come with some loss of convenience.
For now, however, more news reports need to advise us to double-up on errands, to carpool, and even – gasp! – to walk to nearby destinations.
And also to count ourselves fortunate when a war that is killing and displacing so many Ukrainians affects us only at the pump.
Reach Chris at chris.schillig@yahoo.com. On Twitter: @cschillig
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