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Americans Taking The Bus Or Bicycle As Gasoline Prices Rise

By: GARKO

American car owners are showing the world that there is a limit to their consumerism – when consumerism runs up against financial reality they will consume less! This amazing discovery is attributable to the skyrocketing gasoline prices and the decrease in demand for gasoline in America at the present time.
When we are talking about a decrease in Gasoline consumption it is in the range of half a percentage point.
I know that is a small percentage but it adds up to a tremendous amount of oil and it would be the first time in the last SEVENTEEN years that there was any annual decline at all. And it would be only the eighth year since 1951 in which demand for Gasoline has declined.
The federal government noted that the decline was occurring in part because of a slowing economy. But it also said that higher Gasoline prices were having an effect on demand.
According to AAA, the national average on Monday for a gallon of Gasoline was $3.50 a gallon, or 64 cents higher than a year ago. Diesel was $4.20 per gallon, or $1.27 higher than a year ago.
What is in question is at what price per gallon will American drivers demonstrate a stronger decrease in demand. Some say that it would happen when the price of Gasoline stays above $3 for some period of months. But right here in Southern California I am seeing Gasoline prices above $4 so we may very soon hit that critical mass point.
Mike Right, a spokesman for AAA Club of Missouri, said that a decline in Gasoline usage shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. A survey conducted in January by AAA found that many motorists were already deciding to change vacation plans for this summer by planning for shorter trips. “We are starting to see some signs of that,” he said.
There are indications that a fundamental shift in consumer driving habits may have started in December, when total miles traveled in the U.S. dropped 3.9 percent compared with the same month a year earlier. Miles traveled in the Midwest were down 5.8 percent.
There is already a shift in demand from Gasoline guzzline SUVs towards higher MPG vehicles.
The government is soon to release new Gasoline efficiency standards with a minimum requirement of 35 MPG by 2020.
The nation’s fleet of new passenger cars is currently required to meet a 27.5 mpg average, while sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and vans have a target of 22.5 mpg.
Congressional Democratic leaders are expecting that, in today’s dollars, these new Gasoline economy standards will save the average driver somewhere around $1000/year.
While this has been going on many house owners have been living in tents and many car owners have taken to public transport. The increase in people taking busses across the country last year was 4% and this year, so far, it is at 9%.
One ongoing concern is that even though Americans may be cutting back on Gasoline consumption, emerging middle classes in faster-growing countries such as China and India are quickly embracing the driving habit and pushing global demand for Gasoline higher.
So the question is a very simple one. Do people need to ride the bus and bicycles or simply sit at home and watch television or plot the revolution on the internet or do other things on the internet instead of living their lives in the real world? Or is there something else that they can do to offset rising Gasoline costs?
There sure is and it is called Water4Gas

Article Source: http://www.articlekingpro.com

Activist, consumer advocate, entrepreneur and activist, GARKO, is on a mission to save you from having to invent a car that runs on water and has good news that a water powered car is now reality and is one of the best tips on what you can do to save on gas consumption For a list of current gasoline prices in your neighborhood email garko@startlingdiscoveries.info

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