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Gas is expensive. More expensive than it has ever been, people say. When gas first approached $1, there was a gas crisis then, too. Should we look back and see what people did then?
One thing that was done was that they lowered the speed limit. Maybe in 1977 or so, the national speed limit went from 65 down to 55. The reason was to save gas. It stayed 55 for a long time because as an unforseen benefit, the fatality rate on highways fell much more than people expected.
Can you imagine the political will it would take to call for a reduction in consumption to that level? Can you imagine the backlash if a candidate brought that up as a possible means to RODOFO (Reduce Our Dependence On Foreign Oil -- an acronym I just invented! Someone go get the domain name!)
All this "pull together" and "great country willing to sacrifice" talk is all lovely rhetoric, casting for votes. I haven't seen a candidate for office, any office, talk about what part of our lifestyle we might have to sacrifice for the good of the our country, or even the good of our neighbor.
For the good of my neighbor I limit my sitting at the drums and getting the jams properly kicked out to 5 or 10 minutes a day. But when I get good enough that I can stand the sound of my own noise, I might go longer. Watch out Mr. Dunhouse!
So as my own experiment, I'm going to start driving 55 on the freeway. See what that gets me, besides flipped the bird.
Truly I have dropped my speed, and I think I'm the only one. People are still complaining about the price of gas, driving their big cars by me at 80 miles per hour. Am I the only one who sees the connection?
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