Gas prices are at the highest level yet, pushing up to $3.00 for the national average. Government officials are calling it the "gas crisis" and I understand why, though I doubt things are as catastrophic as they would have you believe.
Europe's gas prices were around $6.00 a gallon when I visited France last year. There was no chaos on the streets, highways still had a ton of traffic - life went on. It's hard to believe that chaos will occur on our streets either, I laughed at the news report last night that a young man had stolen a lady's purse, attributing it to unaffordable gas prices.
What can we do ? This administration doesn't seem to be doing much. So it comes down to the state level. California seems to leading the way, with the Governator investing in bio diesel and other forms of alternate energy.
I imagine that some entrepreneur is going to find "it", whether it be biodiesel or otherwise, and that his/her invention will change the automotive field forever. That seems unlikely for another while though, and in the meantime we need to deal with this "crisis".
There's a lot of money headed to biodiesel here in Seattle, and that may be the way to go. But until we have a lot of support from the federal government and auto manufacturers, the situation will progress at a snail's pace.
Some things are certain: SUV's definitely seem headed on the way out. This weekend, a Suburban commercial proclaimed it to be the vehicle for the large family. It seems that the idea of a $60+ fillup doesn't appeal to mass markets anymore. GM, who has based much of it's success on the SUV/Truck market, is for a major shakeup as gas prices move up in the next 3 years.
I am frustrated at the pace in which things are moving here. Over in China, as the country begins mass vehicular adoption, the government has decided to skip gasoline altogether and look into alternate energy as it's prime energy source. It's time for us to do the same, even if it's in a gradual manner.