We all have hand in lowering fuel costs

There's little consolation in having some of the lowest gasoline prices in the nation when one's paying close to $1.40 a litre for regular grade fuel.
Prices across Canada for regular gasoline on July 8, as posted by Natural Resources Canada, ranged from 131.9 cents a litre in Calgary to 155.2 cents in Labrador City. In P.E.I. the average price was 136.9 cents.
Of all the cities listed, Charlottetown had the lowest price for furnace oil, 127.5 while Victoria, B.C., residents were paying 160.2 cents.
The tax Islanders pay on gasoline and diesel is pretty well middle-of-the-pack. We were paying 32.3 cents in taxes on every litre of regular gasoline we bought last week. Calgarians were paying 25 cents per litre in taxation and taxes were 44.4 cents a litre in Labrador City. Furnace oil taxes were lowest in P.E.I.
Every time a price increase is announced motorists flock to the pumps to beat the increase.
We wait in line and gripe about where the price is heading and grumble about it to gas station attendants who earn little more than minimum wage to be the brunt of something over which they have absolutely no control.
Fretting about where the price of gasoline and home heating fuel is not enough. The only true saving is in cutting our consumption, not just when the price is high, but also when - or if - it goes back down to more affordable levels.
We need to cut our consumption, get by with less.
Walk more.
Car pool.
Buy a bicycle or a super fuel-efficient vehicle.
Take the bus (including the school bus during the school year).
Toss the remote starter aside.
Make one trip do. Mow less grass and less often.
Set the camper on a seasonal lot rather than tow it back and forth.
Stow a tent in the trunk and leave the camper at home.
There are things we can do now to prepare for winter: Investigate the cost of a more energy-efficient heating system, add insulation, replace windows.
Even those who can afford high fuel prices have to cut back, because, only in cutting consumption worldwide do we have any hope of stopping the price increases.