Gasoline prices in the US have hit a new high, and we are hearing again from the kooks who are proposing another protest day during which people will not buy gas.  By all means, let's try the same old stunt that hasn't worked before, forgetting the oft-cited definition of "insanity" as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

It won't work for an obvious reason.  Even if everyone complied, they would still make sure that they had enough gas in their cars to carry them through the next day; then they would tank up the day after.  Overall, sales of gasoline would be unaffected.

It would take a sustained period of very high gas prices, or a huge increase in the taxes on gasoline, to cause Americans to make the real sacrifices necessary to reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil.  Even when we have had relatively long periods of high gasoline prices, there has hardly been a stampede of people trading in SUVs and other fuel-inefficient vehicles.  Once people own an SUV, they're pretty well stuck with it – unless they're rich enough to afford the loss that a trade-in represents, in which case they can afford temporary spikes in gasoline prices.  All we ever have is a temporary slump in the sales of larger vehicles.

The typical American, I believe, views both gas prices and our nation's dependence on foreign oil through a very narrow lens.  These represent to them only a dent in the family budget, which may cause them to drive slightly less (temporarily) or to cut back on some other expenses.  They conveniently overlook the effects of high oil prices on the commercial transport of goods, the concomitant increase in the price of these goods, and the overall effect on the economy.  This is another reason why a private gas-out day will have little effect; the trucks will still roll, and the airplanes will still fly.  It is also a reason why, if we were to have a huge increase in federal gas tax, commercial vehicles would have to be exempt.

Virtually every effort to curb America's gluttonous consumption of energy has been a mere Band-Aid on a hemorrhaging wound.  A national gas-out day isn't even that.

It's a complex issue, and I don't have any answers.  The Big Picture is much more than I can grasp.  About all I can see for the individual to do is to take baby steps every day to consume less energy, including less gasoline (just cut out one superfluous errand or combine errands so that less driving is required).  Although I can understand the urge to punish oil companies for making obscene profits, a gas-out day won't make a dent.  Our focus should not be on making futile symbolic efforts to hurt the oil companies but on making all those small practical efforts that will conserve energy and reduce our dependence on oil.