Gas Prices

Cheap gas, great deals, and winter weather resulted in SUV and light trucks resuming their dominance in vehicle sales in December, climbing to 51% of all sales, as Prius sales dipped 48% in November.

A NYT editorial and NYT columnist Thomas Friedman both arrive at the same conclusion - some type of gas tax is essential for both the auto bailout and Obama's goal of greening the U.S. economy.

Nobel laureate and Energy Secretary designee Steven Chu is apparently at odds with the president-elect's position on fuel prices in terms of the price signal it sends to motorists and home-buyers.

This year, oil prices in America rose to heights drivers had never seen. So they cut back on driving. But that reduction is now causing oil prices to fall back down, and many say drivers will soon revert to old habits.

Fortune Magazine's Martin Sloan is interviewed on Marketplace on why he thinks it would be good for Detroit, and America, to have a higher gas tax. At the same time, he has advice to Congress as to what they should do with fuel-efficiency standards.

Energy expert Severin Borenstein suggests a novel strategy to ensure California drivers don't lose their gas-saving habits and vehicle preferences learned when gas cost $4.50/gallon - a 'variable gas surcharge' to stabilize gas prices at $3/gallon.

Gas prices are falling, and drivers are going right back to their gas-guzzling ways.

As oil prices plunge to well below $100/barrel, will Americans reverse all their fuel-efficient behavior learned from $145 oil seen in July? It appears that the economic crisis may continue where the energy crisis left off.

Norway's carbon emissions have increased 15% since imposing a carbon tax in 1991, unlike neighbor's Sweden and Denmark where emissions decreased with their carbon taxes. Unlike the oil industry which became carbon-lean, Norway's drivers didn't change

BP's chief scientist provides his insight into solving the energy and climate crises, including the affect of higher gas prices and separating transportation from the heat and power sectors when dealing with strategies to reduce carbon emissions.

AARP finds that 29% of older Americans polled say they are now walking as a way to avoid high gas prices, but 40% say the sidewalks in their area are inadequate.

Andres Duany and other experts discuss how the convergence of high gas prices and the foreclosure crisis may reverse years of cheap gas and cheap exurban land. He's pushing mixed uses and reformed zoning in suburbia, and he's betting on Texas.

Philip Langdon comments on the the economy of oil and its effects on urban design in the July/August issue of New Urban News.

Rising gas prices aren't just encouraging more transit use, they are making public transit more expensive, and charging more for tickets and passes hurt low-income riders the most.

Escalating gas prices are depressing, but look on the bright side: a new study shows that they may reduce annual traffic deaths by as much as one-third.

Alexis Madrigal at Wired digs into the stats, and find that the state of California uses more gasoline than any country in the world.

An informal survey by APTA says that cities across the U.S., cities are experiences surging transit use in all modes. Transit agencies are expanding every way they can, but face budget shortfalls.

The increase in the price of fuel encourages one St. Louis family to purchase a second home near work.

Southern Californians, facing some of the worst gas prices in the country, are experimenting with taking public transit, as these personal stories from the Los Angeles Times attest.

Joel Kotkin once again leaps to the defense of the suburbs as a choice, and says that urbanists who are hoping that Americans will rush back into the cities are sadly mistaken.