"I Love High Gas Prices"

From a previous post Why $5 Gas is Good for America: "The longer gas stays expensive, the higher the chance we'll see alternatives."

From a related editorial in today's Christian Science Monitor "High Gas Prices Have a Silver Lining:"

Hank Leukart, a Seattle travel writer, says "I love high gas prices. In the long run, high gas prices have so many good repercussions in the form of less traffic, accidents, air pollution and a boost for renewable fuels that the temporary loss of expendable income seems worth it."

High gas prices may not only be desirable, but vital, says John Sterman, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. A recent study he co-wrote found that sustained high gasoline prices are a critical factor in developing US markets for alternative-fuel vehicles. But prices would need to go up to and remain at European levels of $4 to $5 a gallon, he says.

Across the American landscape, a sprinkling of economists, authors, bloggers, and pundits are making the case that there's a silver lining to high gasoline prices. Instead of pain at the pump, they see payoffs: less traffic, fewer accidents, reduced air pollution, better efficiency, more reliance on renewable fuels, and less dependence on foreign oil.

Via FEE.