As the pain at the pump continues to escalate, various initiatives have been popping up at the state and local government levels to thwart the nation's gasoline addiction.
As noted in previous articles, a number of states are mandating or granting telecommuting options to state workers in order to curtail transportation costs and encourage fuel conservation. The latest initiative comes from Warren County, Ohio, where officials are considering adding a gasoline surcharge to speeding tickets.
County officials feel that the gas surcharge tacked onto speeding tickets would help pay for the extra fuel burned by police cruisers when chasing down speeders. Officers in the gas conscious Warren County have also been instructed to turn off their engines for portions of their shifts - though county officials stopped short of requesting fewer donut and coffee runs.
The County Safety Committee is scheduled to discuss the details and practicality of the fuel surcharge next week. Is this the beginning of a trend? Are we soon to see gas charges tacked onto other government bills like parking tickets and water bills?
Perhaps. And at the federal level, a debate over setting national, fuel-conserving speed limits might also be on the horizon.
Rep. Jackie Speier [D-CA] recently introduced a bill that would make the national maximum speed limit 60 miles per hour (mph) on highways and 65mph on portions of the National Highway System located outside of an urbanized area. The legislation would, in theory, force drivers to use gas more efficiently - assuming they didn't just speed and cause more police officers to burn greater amounts of gas chasing them down. Oh the irony!
The bill was referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure where it awaits further debate.
If these events have triggered a case of déjà vu, don't be alarmed. Incredible parallels between today's gas crisis and the energy crisis of 1973 may set off that response. Following the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries price hiking and embargo of oil shipments to countries like the U.S. that supported Israel in its defense from a Syrian and Egyptian attack that year, oil prices in the U.S. skyrocketed to $108 per barrel - still far less than today's price of $144.
In response to rapidly rising gas prices and diminishing supplies, Congress and President Nixon imposed a nationwide maximum 55mph speed limit in 1974 to conserve fuel. The law was revised to allow 65mph limits on certain roads in 1987, and later repealed in 1995, allowing states to set their own speed limits.
Twenty-five years after the oil crises, we appear to have come full circle. So what are the lessons learned from this cycle of boom and bust?
Lesson one: don't squander a finite resource, especially one that is imported, no matter what the current situation.
Lesson two: don't rely on a nonrenewable source of energy for an entire transportation system.
Lesson three: pay attention to lessons one and two before they resurface and take all your money.
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