Editorial: People still have a little control

People who otherwise feel powerless regarding the rising cost of gas are doing something about it. They're driving less.

According to a CNN report, Americans drove 11 billion fewer miles in March this year compared to last - the steepest decrease in driving ever recorded, according to Department of Transportation officials.

Feeling you have no control over something isn't good. Doing something about it, regardless of how small, helps.

Carol Gifford, a public relations manager with AAA Carolinas, said pump prices are causing motorists to reconsider where they go and how they get there.

"They are concerned enough that they are altering the trips they take and they're combining trips," she said. "It is affecting their behavior."

Some Americans are turning to public transportation. In the first three months of 2008, 2.6 billion trips were taken on public transportation in the United States, a 3 percent increase over the first quarter of 2007, according to the American Public Transportation Association.

"I began last month taking the public bus to work because of the gas prices," Tammy Vega of Austin told The Associated Press. She also takes mass transit when she is on business trips. ``Whether I'm in town or out of town, public transportation is going to be the way to go for now.''

The drop in consumer demand may finally be affecting prices at the pump, as the steady increases are showing signs of abating.
Meanwhile, far to the north, people have a chance to do something else about gas prices: getting America back in the business of building refineries.

The Associated Press reported that voters in Union County, S.D., went to the polls on Tuesday to decide on a measure that would clear the way for a $10 billion oil refinery. According to the AP: "The Hyperion Energy Center would process 400,000 barrels of thick Canadian crude oil a day, which company executives say would help the U.S. reduce its dependence on overseas oil. Construction could begin in 2010 and take about four years." Opponents, as you might expect, cite concern about the environment and quality of life.

The outcome of this vote could serve as a reflec-tion of the general public sentiment about fuel issues.

Maybe more people have come to appreciate the fact that gasoline, ethanol, electricity and other manufactured sources of power for our mechanized age do not spring into existence as if by magic. As with many other things in life, they involve balancing the costs vs. the benefits and making a choice.

It all goes back to the trend of people driving fewer miles. The human element is always in play, always capable of having an impact. That reality holds true not just for oil prices, but for any commodity.

Confronted with more expensive fuel, some people have chosen to spend less time behind the wheel. Other people are choosing carpools. Yet others are migrating to mass transit where it's available.

It might not make an immediate difference with pump prices, but people are sending a message that they are still in charge of their lives - and their choices.