Youth Politics

Well, looks like gas prices are hitting their lowest levels in five years. What does that mean for us American consumers? Do we start driving as much as we possibly can? Should we hoard gasoline? Should we pretend the gas price spike was just oil companies’ getting too greedy?

Yes oil companies are associated with greed, but the price of gas really was trying to compensate for the increase in world demand. The United States is the biggest consumer of oil as of now, and we have shown that we can significantly reduce the amount we use and forced oil prices to come tumbling down. But, how long will it last?

We can continue our previous mentality that there is enough oil for everyone, or we can continue our efforts of conservation and finding alternative energy sources. I think this blog post from FixThePig.com about conserving energy says it best.

In other words, we cannot let this sudden drop in gas prices bring us back to our old ways. I’m glad I get the chance to drive at such cheap prices, don’t get me wrong. I didn’t think I would see prices this low ever again. But at the same time, I will try my best to be as fuel efficient as possible. It’s the least I can do to make sure gas prices stay low for those that really do get hit hard by it.

One downside of lower oil prices is that investments may dry up in that industry. This means the companies will struggle to find the money to research new drilling spots. My instincts tell me that’s not good, but I could be dead wrong here. What say you?