World Protests Gas Prices, Starts Cycling More

Everywhere I’ve been lately, people have been talking about the rising cost of gas. At over $4.00 a gallon and climbing, people are frustrated, worried, and disheartened.

This morning I was wondering how high gas prices had gotten in other parts of the world and stumbled upon this article on MSNBC.

Now, I’m certainly not saying that $4.00 gas is acceptable, but it could be worse. Like in Turkey, where gas is $11.29 a gallon. (It costs about $200 to fill up a mid-size car there.) Or in France, where gas is nearly $10.00 a gallon. Imagine the pain you’d feel upon pumping gas with those kind of prices. We’d all be riding our bikes.

Oil prices are up the world over, and drivers abroad are starting to protest. Fishermen in Spain and Portugal are refusing to leave the harbor, truckers in Britain and Bulgaria are parked in protest, and drivers in Indonesia are staging their own protests against shrinking subsidies.

It feels like we’ve hit a crossroads - both here and around the world. We have limited oil, it’s expensive, and it’s crippling the world economy. It’s time we change the way we view fuel and transportation in general.

According to statistics, many people already have. In the U.S. we drove 11 billion LESS miles in March 2008 than we did in March 2007. That’s 4% less. And more people are commuting by bike these days, too.

From the MSNBC article…

Jean-Marc Jancovici, a French engineer and co-author of a philosophical treatise called “Fill It Up, Please!” despairs over the developing world’s rising thirst for shrinking oil resources.

His answer? To rich consumers, at least, he says: Pick up your bike and “stop being petroleum slaves.”

What are you doing to save gas? Have you started driving less, riding your bike more? Commuting some other way? The Blogging Post wants to know how rising fuel costs are affecting your life and what you’re doing about it. Send us your story!

If you’re looking for a great bike at savings of 35-70% off, check out our awesome selection of road bikes, mountain bikes, and cruisers. Stop being a petroleum slave!