I had an experience in the last few days that I thought highlighted some interesting and vexing aspects of our current public dialog about energy and climate issues. I would be interested in hearing what others do in such situations or what you think of my handling of it.

To begin with, the situation was right out of a bad sitcom. The enviro (me) is at the gas station, filling up his really little car (Space Wart), when a guy in a block-out-the-sun black SUV pulls up behind him. The driver of the SUV climbs out of his vehicle, looks at the prices on the pumps, and says something to our intrepid enviro about how high the prices are. I forget his exact comment, but it clearly wasn’t a joke, nor was it a shared misery thing (e.g. “wow, at these prices I’ll have to give up beer soon”). He was quite indignant about the price of the gasoline he was about to put into his SUV, to the point he felt compelled to voice his opinion to a stranger who hadn’t even looked in his direction.

So, what “should” I have said in response? Some possibilities that raced through my mind quicker than the gas pump could add another 25 cents to my bill, even at nearly $4/gallon, in roughly the order they occurred to me:

  • [launch into a mini-lecture on the harm gasoline use does to the US, from adding to the trade deficit to emitting CO2 and other forms of pollution we'll have to deal with eventually, etc.]
  • “Yeah, it’s a pain in the ass paying that much thanks to all the people driving unnecessary gas guzzlers that push up the price.”
  • “I get 40 MPG. Doesn’t bother me.”
  • [smile, shrug, look away]
  • [say nothing, look away without changing expression]

I went with the last option, largely because I was in a hurry and didn’t want to get into A Thing with some guy I didn’t know and would likely never see again. I was also aware that my wife was in the car, and she has a vastly lower tolerance level for such confrontational teaching moments than I do. At social gatherings she’s been known to drift away and act like she doesn’t know me, but at the gas station, she’s trapped.

Beneath such immediate concerns was also the grudging acknowledgement that there was absolutely nothing I could say or do at that moment to change this guy’s world view. Mr. SUV’s concerns about gasoline began and ended with the impact to his wallet, and I would bet my lunch money that he was typical of the very right-leaning people in the area where I was buying gasoline, and he would have immediately jumped to the “what I do with my money is no one’s business” line we all know and love if I had said anything of interest. Call it the anti-Spaceship Earth/”don’t tread on me”/”I’ve got mine, screw everyone else” worldview.

After having a few days to ponder this, I think I got the response right, although it’s very unsatisfying. Is this really the best we can do in such a scenario? Let the other person wallow in his or her myopia and indignation over “high” gasoline prices and save our personal energy for something more worthwhile?

Photo by barunpatro.