By ANTHONY BOTTAN
As of May 29, a barrel of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange went for $130. The U.S.'s dependency on foreign oil to fuel the economy has left many in a quandary: How can I reduce spending to help pay for the higher costs of gas, food and utilities?
According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. consumed 20.7 million barrels of petroleum per day in 2006. That makes the U.S. the world's largest oil consumer. Even though the U.S. is the third largest oil producer in the world, most of the oil it uses, about 60 percent, is imported from Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria.
To offset rising gasoline prices, which have closed in on $4.20 for a gallon of regular gas, many Long Islanders are using mass transit, consolidating car trips or simply walking to places within reason. Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy suggested starting a four-day, 10-hour per day work week for village and county employees to cut down on gasoline expenses, but that idea is still in its nascent stages. Jennifer Kim, spokeswoman for Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, said Suozzi has no plans to look into a four-day work week, but did implement a transit check program that puts pre-tax dollars toward public transportation. Kim said the program is a way to reduce traffic and congestion, and encourage people to ride mass transit.
According to TransitCenter, an independent non-profit organization that uses pre-tax commuter benefits to encourage the use of public transportation, a typical household spends 18 percent of its income on driving costs - more than it spends on food.
Many question why the U.S. has not turned to renewable energy, like wind and water power. According to the EIA, renewable energy plants are generally more expensive to build and operate than coal and natural gas plants. In addition, the best renewable resources are often available only in remote areas, and building transmission lines to deliver power to large metropolitan areas is expensive.
So what can people do to stop pouring their wallets into the gas pump? Robert Sinclair, spokesman for the Automobile Association of America, said routine maintenance of cars can improve fuel economy. Sinclair said that tire pressure is crucial for fuel efficiency and safety. For every pound per square inch that a tire is not inflated, he said, cars lose 2 percent of fuel economy per tire. "It's a terrible waste of gas," he said. He added that most people ignore air filters, which he said should be changed every 7,000 to 8,000 miles. "An engine is an air pump," he said. "The more air that gets pumped through, the better the fuel economy. If the air filter is not clean, it's like a marathon runner trying to breathe through a straw."
Sinclair said that heavy breaking and acceleration also waste gas, and that speeding guzzles fuel. A car gets its best fuel economy between 45 and 60 miles per hour, he said. "For every 5 mph over 60 mph, it's like adding 25 cents to the price of a gallon of gas," he said.
The biggest problem with high gas prices, he said, is that Americans were ill-prepared. He attributed the country's lack of preparation for high gas prices to the widespread sale of gas-guzzling, sport-utility vehicles. In Europe and Asia, the vehicles use more diesel fuel, which Sinclair said gets 30 to 40 percent better fuel economy. They also have embraced the Smart Car, a smaller car that is more fuel efficient.
In Paris, the government has set up an alternative means of transportation through the city, which they labeled "Velib" (an almost free self-service bicycle system) to help cut down on driving and limit the emission of greenhouse gases. Through this system, Parisians can bike from one station, and leave the bike at another station near their destination. The system runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are more than 1,450 stations in Paris, and more than 20,000 bicycles in use. A year subscription to Velib costs about $45.
Martin Melkonian, an adjunct economics professor at Hofstra University, said the more money that people spend on gas, the less they spend on "luxuries" like going to restaurants and vacationing.
"We've entered a new era where we'll see higher energy costs, and it will force us to do what we should have done before, which is cut back on fossil fuels," Melkonian said.
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