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Energy Crunch Reshaping America May 18, 2001

By CHRISTOPHER NEWTON

Associated Press Writer

For many everyday Americans, the energy crunch has swiftly shifted gears; no longer just an irritation, it has become an adversary to their comfortable routines.

Some are jogging to bus stops for the first time, trying to avoid their daily bout with a steamy traffic jam. Others are rethinking plans for a family vacation in a gas-guzzling sport utility vehicle.

Nationwide, pennies are being pinched.

For Cyd Rogers, 30, of Chicago, the crunch has meant more cold cuts and fewer hot meals cooked in her gas oven.

``I used to pay $100 a month for gas and that's doubled in the past nine months,'' she said while running errands after her shift as a federal corrections officer.

President Bush released an energy plan Thursday that relies on increased production to ease energy shortages over the long term and proposes incentives to use energy more efficiently. There is little expectation the plan will ease high prices soon.

Rogers plans to take her 2-year-old son for his first trip to Disney World this summer. High gasoline prices will keep her from renting a car on the trip.

``Our hotel is near everything so we're just going to do a lot of walking.''

Jimmy Butler, 53, clutched the $4 that he was going to use to pay for the gas he had just pumped into his brother's car at a service station near downtown Wichita, Kan. Unleaded was going for $1.69.

That is still too high for Butler to afford to run his own Camaro with its thirsty V-8 engine.

Butler, who retired early after an injury at the Boeing plant, lives on $750 a month in Social Security payments.

``These four dollars are not going to go very far,'' he said as he looked at the crumpled bills in his hand. ``I can't afford to buy another car.''

Across town, Antonio Falcon-Sandoval, a 37-year-old sculptor who works as a graduate teaching assistant at Wichita State University, is bracing for a sweaty summer. He is worried about paying his utility bills.

``I'm not running my air conditioning where I am living _ so I am suffering,'' he said. ``Most of us got hit in the winter with high (natural) gas prices and it is questionable this summer what is going to happen.''

David Gusman, 42, a telemarketer who lives in St. Louis, plans to fly to his Florida vacation with his two daughters rather than drive. He's traded in his SUV.

``I own that little thing now,'' he said, pointing to a bright blue Dodge Neon nearby.

He said he doesn't feel the president has done anything to try to lower fuel costs, but he thinks government intervention could be a good idea. ``Why not? Hasn't the government stepped in before on baseball and things like that? Why can't they do the same thing here?''

Others had different ideas about fixing the problem.

''(People) ought to boycott the oil industry for 30 days and see if that gets their attention,'' said Fred McKnight, 70, filling the 22-gallon tank of his 1987 Mercury Grand Marquis at a downtown Philadelphia Sunoco station ($1.74 a gallon for regular unleaded).

Francis Gagnon, 58, of Springfield, Mass., hopes Bush will do more to require car makers to build fuel efficient vehicles and push other programs fostering conservation.

``We have to stop indulging ourselves,'' said Gagnon, who was getting around Thursday by bus. ``I believe in mass transit. It's another way to conserve and that's why I take the bus.''

Californians who are already being asked to use less electricity because of the state's power crisis weren't sure how much more they could cut back.

``It's kind of hard to cut back when we're probably using the minimum,'' said Bruce Byers, 46, a Pasadena stockbroker. ``And I'm not going to cut back (on driving). I won't. I can't.''

Los Angeles law office worker Sonny Milano has altered his routine to save some money. ``I'm only driving when I have to, and doing all of my errands at once,'' he said.

And he offered this unsettling prediction:

``We're not into candles yet. That might be next.

http://www.individual.com/story.shtml?story=h0518095.000

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), May 19, 2001