Are you Ready for $20 Per Gallon Gas?

Pump prices are off from last year’s highs, but don’t expect that to last.

Forget the classic road trip. Americans are abandoning afternoon drives and summer getaways, thanks to the recession and an unemployment rate that’s hovering dangerously close to double digits. The American Automobile Association estimates that the number of drivers traveling over the Fourth of July weekend

Cook: What prompted you to write a book that looks so far into the future?

Steiner: The genesis came about a year ago when gas was $4.50 and $5 a gallon. It just got to a point when people who drive a lot were approaching the $1,000 mark a month for their gas. You couldn’t get rid of an SUV. I said to myself, “This price of gas is clearly a psychological trigger that totally got people to change their minds. What other trigger points lie ahead?”

Americans seem to be driving less and less this summer. If this continues, how’s everyone going to get around?

When it comes to those who live in the farther reaches of the suburbs and who have to drive to work, the path of least resistance isn’t going to be getting an electric car when gas prices rise to $6 or $7 per gallon. People will just move to places where things are closer, where the neighborhoods are walkable.

Newsweek