Memories of the ‘70s gas shortages

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=15135357&BRD=1697&PAG=461&dept_id=44551&rfi=6

<snip>Last night was a flashback to those days and one day I remember in particular.

My mom corralled all five of us kids into the back of her 1972 blue Chevy station wagon for another excursion to the gas station and the seemingly endless line that punctuated that trip in those days.

We drove around for a good while looking for a station. But all too many times there was that dreadful red flag flying out in front. The red flag meant no gas at that station. So mom kept on driving.

At one point mom got us into familiar territory as she drove us down Parkway Avenue and past the Trenton reservoir.

My grandmother lived across the street, and I was half expecting her to stop but she didn’t.

Instead she drove up to the traffic light at the intersection of Parkway and Prospect Street and got in line with what looked like hundreds of other cars all pointed towards a BP station on Olden Avenue.

We were in line for gas. And that meant you had to occupy yourself for a good long while...

And we thought we were paying too much when the gas went up to $1.25 a gallon.

...I believe to 10 gallons per fill up.

there is a long commercial stretch leading up to my town with a good dozen or more gas stations over 3-4 miles. Yesterday morning, they were all in the $2.61-$2.69 range. I was off work yesterday, but had a couple of job interviews & had some errands to run, so I dropped my daughter off with my mom for the morning. After lunch, I was driving home with her & all the stations were $2.94-$2.99, except for one place that was still $2.63.... and, that station was crazy. There was a line going down the road, people had their horns blaring angrily, etc.

later, when I went by at night, that place was up to $2.99 and some places were as high as $3.08.

but luckily it was so light that I could push it myself all the way to the pump.

Buying that car was a flash of foresight - I previously owned a huge gas-guzzling Dodge. As I saw gas prices creeping up from the usual 25-35 cents per gallon, I decided to sell the clunker and take a chance on a newfangled foreign car that reportedly got good mileage.

The Datsun (now the company is called Nissan) turned out to be a lousy car in other ways, but it got me through the gas crisis. I was an underpaid reporter at a weekly newspaper and had to do a lot of driving for work. I think they reimbursed us 6 cents a mile at the time.

Did we learn from that time period? Anything at all?

Many people did start thinking about ways to insulate homes - something nobody thought about in the 60s. Today's houses are far more energy-efficient than those built in the 1960s. Many cars do get better mileage and pollute less. 55 mph speed limits were in effect nationwide for many years.

However the big car manufacturers and Big Oil took advantage of the rising wages and relatively cheaper energy of the 90s to heavily promote monster gas-guzzling vehicles and gigantic McMansion houses. Speed limits were allowed to rise back to 65 mph in places.

Now average Americans are going to pay through the nose for the greed and selfishness of the two B*sh misadministrations. At least Clinton, during his presidency, directed funds toward energy efficiency efforts such as home weatherization, retrofitting government buildings including military facilities to be greatly more fuel-efficient, and promoting EnergyStar products.

of gas doubling overnight (from 30 to 60 cents a gallon), the extended eastern savings time and watching the sun rise in first period math class at 8:00) and walking to school in the dark.