Forget gas prices. We love our cars

Posted on | May 30, 2007 | Comments Off

Americans really do live in an automotive culture. That probably has to do with the sprawling habitat we’ve created for ourselves over here, away from cramped Europe.

Which, in its turn, explains why Europeans are much more willing to be carbon footprint conscious than we are. Their living spaces are built on a smaller scale, they drive much smaller cars that fit into those spaces, and they are a lot more willing to do unheard-of things like ride bikes and walk than we comfort-loving, obese Americans.

But I digress.

It begins to look like it doesn’t matter how much noise comes from advocates or what the issues are – global warming, national security, peak oil – none of that matters. Just don’t make us stop driving.

Certainly, higher gas prices aren’t inspiring many Americans to reduce their driving, according to a new poll released by Gallop.

Instead of spending less time behind the wheel, 49% of Americans say they’ll adjust their spending in order to keep their gas tanks filled. Possibly good news for the oil industry, possibly not so good news for other movers and shakers in the economy. The money that Americans will be pouring into their gas tanks is money that they will not be spending on other stuff. Which other stuff they’ll forgo remains to be seen.

[tags]gas prices, energy costs, economy, consumer spending[/tags]


Email This Post Email This Post Print This Post Print This Post

Bookmark and Share
Category: The Economy


Comments

Comments are closed.

Subscribe To The Journal Blog

Subscribe to The Journal Blog via RSS

Or subscribe by email:



Meet The Journal Blogger

Dawn Rivers Baker, microbusiness journalistDawn Rivers Baker, aka The Journal Blogger, is the editor and publisher of The MicroEnterprise Journal, and the self-proclaimed Socrates of the small business blogosphere. See her official bio to learn more.


Find Dawn elsewhere online:


Listen to Dawn Rivers Baker on Blog Talk Radio

featured on US News & World Report


Small Business Trends Expert

Contributor, OPEN Forum Blog

Connect with Dawn


View Dawn Rivers Baker's profile on LinkedIn


Facebook me!

Follow me on twitter

  • Daily Reads: Blogs

  • Daily Reads: News

    • Visit Our Sponsors

    Archives

    Categories

    Search