The Best Way to Lower Gas Prices is To Reduce Dependence on Gas

As gas prices have spiked in the U.S., our politicians have rushed to do all kinds of things to reduce the price.

Democrats introduced a bill in Congress to suspend the gas tax.

The administration, meanwhile, eased sanctions on Russian oil and released oil reserves.

Not a single national politician has even mentioned that our reliance on gas is part of the problem.

First, if we had more transportation options, we wouldn’t need gas for everything. Then, elevated gas prices wouldn’t cause national turmoil.

We need better public transit, safer bike infrastructure, and more options to live in walkable places.

More Options = Lower Demand

Of course, when I say that, lots of people will say they will refuse to take a bus or ride a bike or the classic, “I live 67 miles from work, you expect me to take three buses?? It’ll take 3 hours and 47 minutes??”

No, I don’t. But this benefits you too. When more people have more options, demand for gas drops.

When there’s less demand, the price goes down.

Everyone pays less when demand falls.

Instead, national democrats and republicans seem to treat car-dependency as a law of nature.

The people most harmed by high gas prices are usually those with the longest commutes and the fewest alternatives.

The answer isn’t to make gas artificially cheap (with our tax money) forever. We must build a society where we don’t rely on it.

As it is, there are already so many hidden costs of our car-dependent society. All of these moves to lower prices will only create more.