Euphoria over low gas prices carries benefits and dangers

Though the calendar now reminds us that the holiday season has officially ended, the season of joy for euphoric Mahoning Valley gasoline consumers shows no signs of drying up anytime soon.

That’s because prices at the pump continue to swoop to lows that were unconscionable just a few short months ago. Over the weekend, the price for regular-grade fuel had plummeted to as low as $1.76 per gallon in our tri-county region. Compare that with the average $3.63 per gallon cost six months ago when Ohioans set out on Independence Day travels, and the reason for unbridled jubilation becomes self-evident.

Clearly the benefits of this deep-deep discount on one of our most critical consumer products appear to be limitless. Nonetheless, the steep reduction in prices and correspondent increase in disposable income should not be used as an excuse to slam the brakes on ongoing conservation, fuel-efficiency and alternative-energy initiatives in this country.

$14 BILLION IN SAVINGS

To be sure, simple arithmetic easily explains the elation across the nation. According to the American Automobile Association, Americans saved about $14 billion on gasoline in 2014 compared with 2013, based on monthly prices and consumption. U.S. households in 2014 saved an average of about $115 on gasoline compared with 2013. The majority of these savings came during the last few months of 2014.

Consumers are using those savings to pump new energy into other sectors of the economy. And those other sectors of the economy can use their savings toward investment and expansion. For example, some analysts expect food prices to trickle down due to reduced transportation costs incurred by the agriculture industry.

Taxpayer-funded local governments and public agencies reap dividends as well. In Youngstown, for example, the Western Reserve Transit Authority expects to save as much as $300,000 in diesel fuel costs to run its fleet this year. Those savings are expected to be funneled into WRTA’s local shares of funding to purchase new energy-efficient buses to better serve its expanding ridership base.

Similarly, such fuel-dependent public sector servants as school districts and police departments can transform mammoth cost savings into stronger learning environments and innovative crime-fighting strategies.

GASOLINE GLUTTONY

Yet despite the myriad benefits cheap oil prices provide, Americans must resist the temptation to morph into gasoline gluttons. After all, oil remains a finite natural resource, and prices historically have been fickle. When it comes to fuel prices to power our cars, trucks and SUVs, Americans know all too well the this inverse of Sir Isaac Newton’s age-old adage, “What goes down must come up.”

Though the factors that go into our current windfall in savings from gasoline costs are too many and too complex to explain in this short essay, suffice it to say that the laws of supply and demand, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and elsewhere and unprecedented growth in domestic U.S. oil production could all change and easily conspire to send gasoline prices skyrocketing once again.

That’s why this is no time to slide back on significant gains Americans have made in reducing miles traveled, carpooling, using public transit and adopting other energy- and money- saving habits we’ve acquired in recent years. Regardless of which direction gas prices take in coming months and years, those significant savings for our pocketbooks and our environment will be compounded many times over.