Of all the possible remedies being discussed on how to deal with the skyrocketing price of motor fuel, I have yet to hear one notion that got a lot of attention in the 1970s when we experienced an earlier form of sticker shock at the gas pump.
Those of us old folks recall when the Middle East oil embargo forced prices to zoom out of sight. Our response then in real time? It was to slow motorists down to 55 mph. Do you recall that? Sure you do!
Congress acted with relative dispatch.
The slowdown on our interstate highways lasted until the mid-1990s when Republicans took control of Congress and then lifted the mandated speed restrictions. We’ve been zooming along ever since.
I want to offer that as a possible talking point in the current climate.
It is clear that slowing down our motor vehicles from 75 and 80 mph to something a good bit less than that results in significant fuel savings. So, if you play that out just a bit you come up with a notion that greater supply and diminished demand on a commodity — such as gasoline or diesel fuel — could drive the price of that product down to more reasonable levels.
I was a huge proponent of slowing motorists in the 1970s. I received plenty of grief from my West Texas friends about my desire to drive more slowly.
Well, I don’t expect anyone to take this seriously. Perhaps the current price spikes are far beyond simple remedies such as what we enacted in an earlier time.
I just would like to see this talking point introduced once again in the public debate on energy policy. Let’s all remember this indisputable fact: Fossil fuels will not last forever.