Cost of Gas Creating Leaner America and Alternative Fuels

Well, I know eveyone is being hit hard due to the rising cost of gasoline; I live in MA and the cheapest grade is just hitting $4 per gallon. I know I sound like my parents when I say this, but I can remember literally digging around the car for change so I could get gas in high school. I've heard quite a bit on the radio and TV about how this is going to impact us, not just with respect to getting around in our autos, but everything we buy. Think about it, there is a trasportation charge added in to many things we buy every day and normally we don't even notice. Things we normally take for granted are going to be too expensive. It has already impacted how my family operates.

For example, my husband is fortunate to work only minutes from our home - he owns a pick up truck, typically not known for fuel efficiency. He has been riding his bike to work every day. We try to only make one run for errands on the weekend so we are not driving all around. More efficient use of our gasoline.

I am know contemplating riding my bike to work. This will take more planning since I am the parent getting our children off to school, but I think of how much we might be able to save and that is really appealing! I work approximately 13 miles from home, calculated using back roads. I think I could make this work, especially since my place of employment has a shower.

My feeling is that if gas creeps up to the $5 per gallon range, the bicycle could become more and more popular, inadvertently creating a leaner populous. In Europe the bike is the choice mode of transportation in a lot of cities. The flaw in this theory, of course, is the electric scooter and the smart cars that are on the market. Too many people, myself included, have been lazy too long to think about actually attempting to use the bike for anything other than enjoyment.

My second topic that has caught my interest is the alternative fuels. I'm not really well informed on this topic so I'll be brief. I cannot understand why the development of alternative fuels to power autos is not a priority in this country right now. I did some interesting reading on autos fueled by ethynol and ethynol fuel stations. I know there are other fuels out there as well, but my thoughts are we should be demanding the development of these immediately. There is no reason we shouldn't already have them.

Let me know your thoughts!