Energy bind, but no cardigan-sweater ethic

Reminiscent of the 1970s, the line of cars stretched down the street at a west side gas station last week. Customers were waiting for 10 free gallons, compliments of a local radio station.

Because the promotion would go to the first 200 cars only, people began queuing up at 9 the night before. One woman burned up an entire tank of gas waiting for a free half tank. "People are confused about why prices are rising so rapidly," says Tim Sutherland of KHMX 96.5, the Houston station giving away 2,000 gallons of gas. "They say it's absurd to be paying $2 a gallon for regular. But nobody wants to stop driving."

While there are signs that today's record high gasoline prices are causing some consumers to reevaluate their energy use (witness the slowdown in SUV sales), for the most part people continue to burn fuel at the same rate they did last year.

In fact, AAA, the nation's largest organization for motorists, predicts drivers will hit the road in record numbers this summer. After more than a decade of prosperity, it seems the concept of energy conservation has vanished from the nation's consciousness - Jimmy Carter donning a sweater instead of turning up the thermostat a distant, almost amusing, memory.

"The same urgency that was given to fuel conservation in the '70s is not apparent in our society anymore, even with these high prices," says Geoff Sundstrom, AAA spokesman. "Some of the drastic steps taken 30 years ago are not even being discussed right now."

Lowering the national speed limit to 55 miles per hour and tightening the fuel-economy standards are two examples of laws enacted after gas shortages shocked the nation. Some believe steps like these will occur only if gas shortages return.

Indeed, many economists contend that gasoline as a percentage of household expenditure is less today than it was 25 years ago, and people simply haven't been inconvenienced to the same degree.

But others say the nation has continued to make progress on energy conservation, primarily on the technology side. While gains were faster in the 1970s and '80s, spurred on by persistently high energy prices, everything from automobiles to light bulbs is more efficient today than they were even 10 years ago, says Christopher Flavin, president of the Worldwatch Institute in Washington.

By 1990, for instance, the average American car got 40 percent more miles per gallon than it did in 1973. In the past decade, the country has saved $50 billion from the dozen or more products that have been subject to stricter federal standards. "In the 1970s, there was a limited number of choices when it came to energy efficiency," says Bill Prindle of the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy in Washington. "We were so accustomed to cheap energy, there was no need to find alternatives. Now there are a lot more choices."

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