Supply and Demand Works...

...there is no need for government to regulate a decline in gasoline consumption.

As the gasoline price has climbed, consumers, on their own, have cut back on their consumption of gasoline.

New data released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation shows that, since last November, consumers in the United States have driven 53.2 billion miles less than they did over the same period a year earlier – topping the 1970s’ total decline of 49.3 billion miles.

Consumers drove 4.7 percent less, or 12.2 billion miles fewer, in June 2008 than June 2007. The decline is most evident in rural travel, which has fallen by 4 percent – compared to the 1.2 percent decline in urban miles traveled – since the trend began last November.