Pink ScooterThe big news this summer has been sky-rocketing gas prices. While I can personally attest to the pain at the pump, there are some positive affects of $147 barrels of oil. Here’s a little silver lining to think about while filling up your tank.

High fuel prices are forcing the average consumer to rethink their commuting habits. Demand is going down. Retail sales of gasoline are at their lowest point in 12 yrs according to the Energy Information Administration. Everyday, I see more and more Scooters around town along with the occasional Smart Car. I’ve even been biking to work lately to help stretch each fill up. These high prices are good for the environment and our (at least my) health.

On the manufacturing front, high transportation costs are forcing manufactures to rethink their supply chains. With high shipping cost, businesses can more easily justify paying fair prices for American made products. Larry Rother of the New York Times wrote an interesting article about this using Telsa Motors as an example.

Tesla planned to manufacture 1,000-pound battery packs in Thailand, ship them to Britain for installation, then bring the mostly assembled cars back to the United States.

But when it began production this spring, the company decided to make the batteries and assemble the cars near its home base in California, cutting more than 5,000 miles from the shipping bill for each vehicle.

This means more jobs for American Manufacturers. We like the sound of that.

As we all learned in Economics 101- lower demand means lower prices. So, rather than waiting for a ‘Gas Tax Holiday’ or a ‘Fuel Rebate’ let’s bring the fuel prices down ourselves by reducing demand. Leave the car at home, ride a bike and build locally.