Gas prices are bottoming out, or so it seems, after they dropped drastically in the last eight months. In August of last year, gas prices reached an all-time high in Connecticut, averaging $4.38 per gallon. In late December, the average gas price for the state was $1.71.

The poor economy in the last several months has brought major oil companies to think that it is going to get worse. This is causing the oil industries to cut back on their exploration and production of oil.

If the production of oil goes down, the price of gas will rise again. Some experts believe the price of gas could rise to around $4.00 a gallon again within the year..

The rise in gas prices, as high as $4.00 dollars a gallon, hits everyone hard. People drive less, whether it is for work or around town to get groceries and daily essentials. The high gas prices hurt the automotive industry’s chances of diverting its path away from bankruptcy. Two major market items in the last few years are trucks and SUVs, but that target market is getting smaller.

Drives in the United States have cut down on their mileage in the short time between November 2007 and October 2008 by 100 billion miles.

Although higher gas prices are hurting people financially, they do, on the other hand, help lower greenhouse gases and emissions. The environment benefits a little more from our loss and forces not only the United States but many other countries to research other sources of energy as well.

New drivers, and seasoned drivers on the road, in the last two years have seen prices vary from high to low in relatively short periods of time. The cost of gas is restricting for everyone. Those who are learning to drive need a full-time job to even practice driving when the price jumps as fast as it did last summer.

When people limit their driving less because of gas prices, stores and businesses suffer as well. Fewer customers come into the store, which means less sales. The owners as well as their employees feel the gas prices cutting into their pay. With the United States and the rest of the world’s reliance on oil, it is important to keep it affordable. New and alternative sources of energy need to be found that are as convenient in terms of diversity as oil and gas.

Ethanol a bi-product of corn has been highly research form of alternative energy. The alternative source of fuel has some auto motive manufactures already producing engines capable to run on ethanol. General Motors, for example, has designed a line of flex fuel vehicles. These cars are able to run on both gas and ethanol.

The downside of this alternative fuel, ethanol, is that it takes away from the cattle feed the farmers were producing. More and more farmers are growing their corn to be converted into ethanol because of the demand for it. About 20 percent of the corn crop produced last year went into being converted to ethanol.

As time goes on and gas becomes a more difficult fuel to obtain and maintain affordably alternative fuels will need to be found. Hopefully the alternative fuel will be better not only for people’s pockets but the environment and economy alike.