What would you do?
Ruth Rahe, Belleville, remembers America's response in the 1970s when gas prices spiked.
"We knew we had a problem," said Rahe, register of deeds in Republic County for 15 years. "We went to daylight-saving time, we got our tank of gas once a week, and we went 55 miles per hour."
Americans now spend more than 6 percent of their income on gasoline -- a higher percentage than during the oil shocks of the mid-1970s and early 1990s. Record fuel prices are driving up food prices, threatening the financial health of U.S. airlines and forcing consumers to cut back spending in other areas, which could tip the country toward a recession.
When Sen. Sam Brownback visited five Kansas counties June 9, energy was the most-discussed topic. Until recent weeks, Brownback said, the dominant policy issue in Washington had been climate change.
Rahe wanted to know what today's Congress plans to do about high energy prices.
"Has there been any thought to going back to some kind of conservation programs?" Rahe wanted to know.
The solutions Brownback proposed were to ease price pressures.
"We need to produce more oil in the United States," he said, evidently referring to opening the Arctic refuge or offshore areas to drilling. However, it would take years before the fuel reached the market.
In the meantime, a national energy policy is in gridlock.
Last week, Democrats forced a vote on two bills to levy a windfall profits tax on the oil industry and eliminate $17 billion in tax breaks to oil and gas companies. Republicans succeeded in blocking debate on both. They didn't even want to talk about it.
"It's very difficult to pass significant legislation in an election year under normal circumstances -- let alone when energy is such an important political issue," said Paul Bledsoe, a spokesman for the National Commission on Energy Policy, a group of environmentalists, industry chief executives and former officials of both parties who are seeking to break the logjam on energy policy.
As far as we can see, the answer to Rahe's question is, no, there hasn't been any serious thought to conservation, nor any real leadership to be expected this year from Congress.
Producing more oil could take years. Buying the same amount of oil and gasoline is not a realistic option for many people. That leaves conservation.
What are you willing to do to conserve motor fuel? We'd like to know, and we'd like to share the ideas with readers. Send us a letter or e-mail, using the instructions at the bottom of this page.
Or you can call Ext. 333 and leave a brief message. If government is going to nothing, at least we can help each other with our suggestions.
-- Jean Kozubowski, Copy Editor
and member of the Journal's Editorial Board
©Salina Journal