Beating High Energy Prices

How to Beat High Gasoline Prices

While gas prices seem to have spiked recently, the issues leading to this increase have been decades in the making Our nation’s refining capacity has been stagnant for thirty years, we have limited our options to increase domestic supply, and we depend more and more on foreign sources of oil that are becoming increasingly scarce because of rising demand in other countries like China and India.
The energy bill signed by the president last summer has helped the U.S. start to turn the corner and lead us in the right direction. The energy bill supports development of more oil and gas reserves here at home and in addition, and will help us develop new technologies to fuel our transportation needs like hydrogen fuel cell cars.
In the coming months, we may continue to see high prices due to increased demand as the summer driving season begins, the switch from winter to summer gasoline blends, and the phase-out of the gasoline additive MTBE in favor of ethanol.
There are a number of things that American families can do to improve their fuel efficiency and help them save money. Taken together, these efficiencies can equal up to a dollar of savings per gallon.

Some of these steps include:

1. Slow down.

Each 5 mph you drive over 60 mph is like paying an additional $0.15 per gallon for gas.
Aggressive driving (speeding, rapid acceleration and braking) wastes gas.
Equivalent Gasoline Savings: $.12-$.82/gallon

2. Keep your car maintained and running smoothly.

3. Use your engine wisely.

4. Be smart about driving.

5. Keep your car light.