The price of gas was nearly $4.00 per gallon two years ago. Economists worried the rate would continue to rise, causing financial hardship on those with an already lean budget. What if it went to $5.00 a gallon? Well, those days are long gone.
Gas in Connecticut is around $2.50 a gallon and it's much cheaper elsewhere in the country.
But the higher rate also made people drive less and conserve more, and pushed higher fuel efficiency standards through Congress, nearly doubling the average fuel economy of new cars and trucks by 2025.
Now oil prices are dropping to levels not seen in almost five years.
Improving technology, fuel efficient cars, and increased worldwide oil production have prodded the global price per barrel of oil to plummet about 50 percent in the last seven months, bringing the price of gasoline down with it. But at what cost?
Consumer spending is up, but are we using the extra dollars to drive more and save less, reversing the hard fought inroads we've made toward conservation and safety?
With prices so low, maybe it's time to raise the federal gas tax. It hasn't budged from $0.18 a gallon since 1993, when gasoline was $1.00 per gallon.
Then, there are political implications, like what this might mean for pipeline projects and renewable energy.
Today, we explore the impact of cheap oil.
Later in the show, we talk about a new documentary film that's showing at Real Art Ways in Hartford. It's called "Antarctica: A Year on Ice." We talk with a Connecticut resident who has some South Pole experience.
GUESTS:
- Steven Mufson, covers the White House for The Washington Post
- Paul Bledsoe is a senior fellow on energy and society at the German Marshall Fund and president of Bledsoe and Associates, a policy consultancy. He was a staff member at the Senate Finance Committee and the Clinton White House.
- Emily Woodward is the owner of Get Baked in Windsor. She also spent three winters at McMurdo Station in Antarctica.
Chion Wolf contributed to this show.
