Road tripping to be easier this summer with lower gas prices

Fill your tank, cut down a redwood and kick a polar bear in the ‘nads … gas is likely to stay cheap this summer! So, let the environment be damned, load up the Hummer and take the longest road trip of your life.

The Energy Information Administration has great news for motorists: gas is expected to hang around an average of $2.23 a gallon this summer (more if you live in New York or California, I imagine). Peak driving season – late in the summer – could see a rise to more than $2.30, but it’s still a far cry from last summer’s insanity … when the average gallon would set you back $3.81.

What’s behind this embarrassment of fossil fuel riches? A barrel of crude is likely to cost about a third of what it did last summer ($53 versus $147), and U.S. crude oil production is supposed to come back up – by 440,000 barrels a day.

But, it pays to have a backup plan. Howard Gruenspecht, acting administrator of the EIA, concedes that an early broader economic recovery could lead to more pain at the pump, though you’d probably be able to afford it.

An EIA spokesman was on hand to confirm, “We’re not in the crystal ball business.” If they were, they probably wouldn’t be talking about fuel prices anyway.

Photo of the Day (4/8/06) Perspiring Fungus


With Earth Day approaching fast I thought this shot taken by Nicholas Stevenson of a perspiring fungus on
a Redwood seemed rather fitting. For some reason Earth Day always generates pictures of tree huggers gathered in masses
and I say if you’re going to be doing any tree hugging this April 22 you should hug a California Redwood at Redwood National Park. Judging from the detail of this awesome nature shot there’s
tons of little secrets to discover on the very large trees. So perhaps you’ll even capture something similar, but in
the meantime we have Stevenson’s work to admire over at
TrekEarth
.