What are the benefits to high gas prices?
According to Times.com, there are 10 Things You Can Like $4.00 Gas.
- Globalized Jobs Return Home – The cost of shipping to and from overseas makes the U.S. a more attractive place to manufacture goods.
- Sprawl Stalls – Housing closer to jobs is in demand; home buyers are looking to move closer to cities. High gas prices are not conducive to an one-way, hour-long commute.
- Four-Day Workweeks – There are benefits in energy savings as well as employee turnover. And then there’s that little thing called spending time with your family.
- Less Pollution – When people drive less, there are fewer vehicle emissions.
- More Frugality- Companies look to optimize delivery routes; individuals switch to alternative modes of transportation or try hypermiling. Scooter sales have increased while SUV have dropped.
- Fewer Traffic Deaths – Driving less and driving more slowly translates to fewer traffic deaths.
- Cheaper Insurance – Driving less may mean reduced insurance premiums.
- Less Traffic – Travel on all roads dropped in the first few months of 2008 in the U.S. More people are switching to public transit where it exists.
- More Cops on the Beat – Bike and foot patrols have increased, car patrols have dropped.
- Less Obesity – Bike sales are up; walking and biking are on the upswing.
My daughter already has felt the pinch of high gas prices and just moved to within walking/biking distance of her work. I drive less, consolidating errands and grocery shopping so I make fewer trips to town. What do you do?
Resources:
- Time.com: 10 Things You Can Like $4.00 Gas
Related Posts:
- 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Vehicles
- Gas Prices Impact Driving – Get a Bike!
- Hit the Road for Less
- Hypermiling – More Miles from a Gallon of Gas
- The MPG Illusion
Enjoy this post? Get more like it. 
Subscribe in a reader or by Email.
Welcome to Verda Vivo. My name is Daryl Warner Laux.
Hi,
One thing I miss here is that it might let US citizens think about energy and how to be more thrifty about it. But as mentioned in this blog one doesn’t seem to know or care how much energy one consumes. There is still a long way to go
Eddy
Eddy, Read the blog post and tried to comment but couldn’t pass the Captcha. Anyway, apparently it takes a lot of electricity to run Al Gore’s 20-room mansion (not including 8 bathrooms) heated by natural gas. Plus the pool and a pool house and a separate guest house all heated by gas. ~ Daryl
Natural gas. The third most emitting energy source, but slightly better than oil.
Anyway, nobody’s perfect… and nobody did more than Mr. Gore to raise global awareness on climate change. (if you know a guy /girl that did more than him, please share ! )
Edouard, I agree that Mr. Gore has done a great deal to raise awareness about global change. Unfortunately his Nashville estate consumes 20 times more electricity than the average American household which leaves him open to charges of hypocrisy from climate change skeptics. ~ Daryl
I knew that…. It is indeed a shame, but heck… that doesn’t change one bit to me.
Maybe he consumes 20 times more energy because there are more people living inside, work more etc. I mean, that must be the headquarters of his alliance and so on, no ?
Enjoy your weekend Daryl !