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Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Monday, May 05, 2008

How do we deal with high gasoline prices in the future?

By Tribune editorial board

Let’s assume for a moment that the era of high gasoline prices is permanent and not temporary.

Consumers in Europe and elsewhere have been dealing with high gas prices for years. It’s possible that it simply is our turn to join them. What does that mean in terms of policy? What can we do to cope?

There is a range of options — from intense to moderate consumer action.

On the more intense side, this week is Coulee Bike to Work Week. Check with your employer to find out where to park the bike at work. Even a day or two a week could save some money — and give you good exercise in the process.

Otherwise, mass transit is an option. If you’re in the city of La Crosse, you can check out bus schedules to see which might be most convenient.

The current city transfer point downtown is in front of the Post Office at Fifth Avenue and State Street. That’s not the safest situation, however, because people cross the street and motorists need to be careful at bus-transfer time. Plans are in place now to build a new off-street transfer point on the block bordered by Third, Fourth, King and Jay streets. This will be a huge improvement for bus riders and the city as a whole.

The most likely response by consumers would probably involve buying a more fuel-efficient car as your next vehicle. American consumers have already started doing this, to the discomfort of the U.S. auto industry, which had relied for years on the sales of trucks and sport utility vehicles.

There is a long overdue effort on the part of the auto industry to produce SUVs that consume less fuel — using a new kind of hybrid system. Even then, city mileage will likely be in the high teens, and consumers might re-evaluate whether they really need that large a vehicle.

There are some car-based sport-utilities that are more fuel thrifty than the larger truck-based SUVs. As the gasoline prices continue to rise (or even if they plateau at about where they are now for a while), automakers will be forced to respond.

We need to be thinking about mileage. Consumers already are, and the American auto industry will have to follow suit with imaginative new technologies and choices to keep American consumers from buying cars made in Japan, Korea or elsewhere.

We can hope that prices moderate in the future, but we can’t count on it, so consideration of alternatives makes sense. And simply driving less is a good start.