Ahhh, yes. Another round of gas price hikes and the bawling begins. While I am not immune to it (driving being essential to my job, these price hikes SERIOUSLY impact our income, I am amazed at the ability of the average American to overlook the obvious.

The fact is, we collectively have far more power to influence the market than we know. While I don't see the insane profits of the oil barons as being reasonable, I don't see that we have any other choice to drive down demand. We want oil, and we want it cheap. As long as it is cheap, we feel free to drive fuel inefficient cars as if the supply of oil was endless. And while I don't believe the line of the hardcore environmentalists as to the limits of our oil supply, I can and do agree that it is far from endless.

Every time the price has surged in the last several years, we've begun serious talks about alternative energy. We've talked about more fuel efficient practices, we've talked about boycotting certain oil companies, but that's all it has been, talk. And as soon as the oil companies drop the prices a few cents, even the talk quickly fades.

The fact is, we as a culture do not have the fortitude to enforce a boycott. We don't want to make the sacrifices necessary to manipulate the market back downward. We don't want to limit our trips out with the car, or rideshare, or give up any inkling of our individuality. And the oil companies know this. As long as we will buy gasoline at $3.00 a gallon, they will continue to sell it.

My family's response to last year's price hikes in natural gas was to install a woodstove. We need two electric water heaters before winter, and we will be converted away from gas. While we still have to pay for electricity, the electricity is increasingly wind generated in our region, and will eventually be more competitive. And we have other steps planned to reduce our consumption further. Unfortunately, we really can't add getting rid of our car to the list of things we're doing; not for some time, at least.

I guarantee this much: if demand for gasoline dropped 20% overnight, we'd see a SHARP drop in prices. If we sustained the reduce in demand, the prices would stay down. And the side effect would be a much needed drop in emissions because there are fewer vehicles on the road. But until or unless we are willing to make the sacrifices necessary to reduce prices, we can expect them to continue to climb. And we, for our part, will continue to whine.