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The price of oil impacts Americans in what seems to be a limitless number of ways. Most recently, the already declining highway infrastructure received a new setback to its funding thanks to declining oil revenue and the possibility Americans’ driving habits might be headed back towards their carefree days.
During the summer gas price spike, where prices peaked above $4 a gallon, many Americans responded by not only purchasing more fuel efficient vehicles but simply cutting back on their driving. Reductions in driving equal a reduction in gas sales, which has led to the Department of Transportation reporting a drain on their highway fund. 90% of the fund’s basis comes from government taxes on gasoline sales and the decline in drivers destroyed the fund, leading to a request to Congress for $8 billion in order to continue maintaining roads.
However, as the price of oil has continued to slide into its five-month low of just over $100 a barrel, many economists are wondering how Americans will react. There is concern Americans will return to their gas guzzling ways and begin purchasing giant, multi-ton SUVs again. Using the OmniNerd site statistics as a gauge reveals as the price of gas rose to its record highs, the article "Improve MPG: The Factors Affecting Fuel Efficiency; increased its daily popularity threefold. As the price began its decline, so did domestic interest in the subject. (This trend can be considered a fair benchmark of American interest in fuel efficiency as the article is the first result on Google when searching for "Improve MPG.")
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Double Edged Sword by gnifyus :: NR8 :: Show
It’s funny, because one half of me wants petroleum products to return to lower prices because there’s a certain amount of driving our family must continue to do, and living in the northeast also means high heating bills. The other half wants the price of oil to remain high in hopes that some hidden lazy genius will finally get angry and motivated enough to awake from his or her slumbers and figure out an alternative energy source.
I’ve also observed through the period when gas prices were at their highest, that the people who could afford those giant SUV’s in the first place had no problem paying for the gas either; no one suffered, starved or cut back on anything else, and only a slight grumbling could be heard in their conversations. I’m picturing the elite "soccer mom" driving the big Sequoia around to all the various lessons and activities that probably cost more than the thing uses in gas anyway. On the other hand, I’ve seen many more hybrid or tiny gas efficient cars on the road along with mopeds, scooters and bicycles that never were there before, so high prices have done their work on some.