Americans are driving less, trimming vacations and cutting back on heating and air conditioning, according to an AP-Ipsos poll taken as gasoline prices in many areas have topped US$3 a gallon (US$0.80 per liter).
Seven in 10 say gas prices are causing a financial pinch. And that pressure is being felt increasingly by middle-income and higher-income families.
"Now, I'm just going to work and coming home -- not doing anything else," said Kathleen Roberts, who makes a daily, 161km round trip from York, Pennsylvania, to her teaching job in Baltimore.
Like many Americans, Roberts is trying to adjust to gas prices that have risen steadily over the last five months. The price of a gallon of regular-grade gas is now almost what it was soon after Hurricane Katrina battered domestic refineries along the Gulf Coast last August.
The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline was US$2.92 on Friday, according to AAA, the motorists' club. The all-time high came last year on Labor Day, according to AAA, when that same gallon cost US$3.
When asked what would be a fair price for gasoline, many of those surveyed said US$2-a-gallon on average -- a price not seen consistently in the US for more than a year, according to AAA.
Energy analysts blame the higher prices on a tight supply internationally, unstable politics in oil-producing countries and fast-growing economies in places like China and India.
Whatever the reasons, soaring gas prices are impacting on behavior.
Two-thirds of people said they have cut back on driving and have reduced the use of heating and air conditioning. Half now say they have trimmed their vacation plans.
Hearing talk about vacation cutbacks upsets Susan Morang, a psychiatric counselor from Washington, Maine.
She helps clients deliver antiques for sale during the summer tourism season.
"Each summer, you have to make the majority of your money to live on the whole rest of the year," said Morang, who has cut her own driving to the minimum.
Morang's GMC truck guzzles gas, but she said she needs it to help clients haul their belongings.
"A lady paid me US$40 yesterday," she said. "I used it to fill my gas tank halfway."
The number of people who say gas prices are causing them money problems has risen from half to two-thirds in the last year, the poll found.
Just over six in 10 of those who make between US$50,000 and US$75,000 a year now say gas prices are a hardship -- up from four in 10 a year ago. And more people say they will reduce driving, travel and utility use.
BACK IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: The planned transit by the ‘Baden-Wuerttemberg’ and the ‘Frankfurt am Main’ would be the German Navy’s first passage since 2002 Two German warships are set to pass through the Taiwan Strait in the middle of this month, becoming the first German naval vessels to do so in 22 years, Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. Reuters last month reported that the warships, the frigate Baden-Wuerttemberg and the replenishment ship Frankfurt am Main, were awaiting orders from Berlin to sail the Strait, prompting a rebuke to Germany from Beijing. Der Spiegel cited unspecified sources as saying Beijing would not be formally notified of the German ships’ passage to emphasize that Berlin views the trip as normal. The German Federal Ministry of Defense declined to comment. While
‘REGRETTABLE’: TPP lawmaker Vivian Huang said that ‘we will continue to support Chairman Ko and defend his innocence’ as he was transferred to a detention facility The Taipei District Court yesterday ruled that Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) be detained and held incommunicado over alleged corruption dating to his time as mayor of Taipei. The ruling reversed a decision by the court on Monday morning that Ko be released without bail. After prosecutors on Wednesday appealed the Monday decision, the High Court said that Ko had potentially been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Ko did not speak to reporters upon his arrival at the district court at about 9:10am yesterday to attend a procedural
Thirty Taiwanese firms, led by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and ASE Technology Holding Co (日月光投控), yesterday launched a silicon photonics industry alliance, aiming to accelerate the medium’s development and address the energy efficiency of artificial intelligence (AI) devices like data centers. As the world is ushering in a new AI era with tremendous demand for computing power and algorithms, energy consumption is emerging as a critical issue, TSMC vice president of integrated interconnect and packaging business C.K. Hsu (徐國晉) told a media briefing in Taipei. To solve this issue, it is essential to introduce silicon photonics and copackaged optics (CPO)
The High Court yesterday overturned a Taipei District Court decision to release Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) and sent the case back to the lower court. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Saturday questioned Ko amid a probe into alleged corruption involving the Core Pacific City development project during his time as Taipei mayor. Core Pacific City, also known as Living Mall (京華城購物中心), was a shopping mall in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山) that has since been demolished. On Monday, the Taipei District Court granted a second motion by Ko’s attorney to release him without bail, a decision the prosecutors’ office appealed
RSS