By ANTHONY BOTTAN
As of May 29, a barrel of crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange sold for $130. America's dependence on foreign oil to fuel the economy has left many in a quandary: How can they reduce spending to pay for the higher cost of gas, food and utilities?
According to the Energy Information Administration, the U.S. is the world's largest oil consumer, using 20.7 million barrels of petroleum per day in 2006. Even though the U.S. is the third largest oil producer in the world, about 60 percent of the oil it uses, is imported from Canada, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela and Nigeria.
East Rockaway Village Administrator John Mirando said that the village's sanitation truck routes are as concise as possible to help conserve gas. Mirando said the village also consolidates sanitation trips to the waste-to-energy plant Covanta, in Westbury, with Rockville Centre. In addition, East Rockaway is looking into buying alternative-fuel vehicles, he said, like those that run on compressed natural gas, but each truck costs upward of $300,000, so it will take about five years to update the entire fleet of 15 trucks. The village is also part of the Clean City Initiative, Mirando said, which may help it get state grants to fund the new trucks.
With oil prices surging, many question why the country 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 emptying their wallets into the gas pump?
Robert Sinclair, spokesman for the Automobile Association of America, said routine maintenance can improve a car's fuel economy. Sinclair said that tire pressure is crucial for fuel efficiency and safety. For every pound per square inch that tires are underinflated, he said, a car loses as much as 8 percent of its fuel economy. "It's a terrible waste of gas," he said.
Sinclair 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 explained. "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 burns 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 for them. He attributed the country's lack of preparation to the widespread sale of gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles. In Europe and Asia, 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, a low-cost, self-service bicycle system called Velib, to help cut down on driving and limit the emission of greenhouse gases. Parisians can borrow a bike at one station, and leave it at another station near their destination. There are more than 1,450 stations in the city, and more than 20,000 bicycles in use. A year's membership in Velib costs about $45.
Martin Melkonian, an adjunct professor of economics at Hofstra University, said the more money people spend on gas, the less they spend on "luxuries" like going to restaurants and vacations. "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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