It took soaring fuel prices for old habits to shift. But they’re shifting alright. Just take a look at these poll results — Gallup finds that big numbers of Americans are making changes in their daily lives to deal with higher gas prices. Here’s a snapshot:
Most telling, perhaps, is that 7 out of 10 poll respondents are considering a more fuel-efficient car. That’s a change that’ll help control energy costs for years to come, no matter what happens to the price of gasoline.
Even though we can’t control the price of gas, we control our consumption: we can drive less, take transit, consolidate trips, drive slower, put air in the tires, carpool, walk … choices that are good for our pocketbooks, the climate, and our health. So, it’s no surprise that Americans are already choosing smarter travel habits. Over the long haul, it’s just common sense.
Rising energy costs — and our demonstrated ability to adjust our consumption in response — gives us all the more reason to support a cap on climate-warming pollution. A cap will allow us to take charge of our energy future, invest in alternatives that are more stable, and keep more of the money now going to foreign oil in our local economies instead — with the added bonus of taking action to turn around our impacts on the climate.
