CONSERVE GAS, WATER? WHY, THE TIMES ARE GOOD

High gasoline prices are almost as popular as the weather, if you've been paying any attention to office conversations or coffee-shop chatter.

Meanwhile, Cape Girardeau officials say most residents aren't heeding last week's request for voluntary cuts in water usage. It's not that there isn't enough water. The Mississippi River has plenty of water right now. The problem is the city's water-treatment capacity. As the days get hotter and drier, more and more residents are watering their lawns and keeping swimming pools filled. The water-treatment plant can't keep up.

There is a juxtaposition here that bears closer examination.

In the past when gas prices have shot up, there was a lot of talk about conserving fuel. As a result, auto manufacturers made smaller cars that got better gas mileage. Cities designated commuter lanes on busy freeways for car pooling. The trend through much of the 1970s and 1980s was smaller and smaller vehicles.

And remember the heating-fuel shortages of the late 1960s and the 1970s in the Northeast? The response then also was conservation. In some cases, surcharges were imposed on heating-oil customers who didn't reduce the amount of fuel they consumed each month. This was fine for most people, but it really pinched thrifty homeowners who had long believed in saving fuel on their own.

While this year's sharp increases in prices at the gas pump have produced a lot of moaning and groaning, there's hardly been any talk of ways to conserve gasoline.

Look at the shiny new cars on dealers' lots. Almost every auto maker has found a way to cater to buyers' passion for bigger and more powerful -- and less fuel-efficient -- vehicles.

Why?

Because times are good, that's why. People have jobs, and they have enough income to afford more expensive cars. And they can afford more expensive gasoline too. Besides, most Americans don't believe gas prices will stay high. When we saw gas prices go up in the 1970s, we thought they would probably stay that way. But already we've seen this year's top gas prices fade away. And all those politicians are promising to do something about gas prices, aren't they?

All of this may help explain why Cape Girardeans aren't cutting back very much on the amount of water they are using. After all, the city is expanding the water-treatment plant. And because the economy is so good, most of us can afford to pay higher water bills to keep the lawns nice and green.

Many older Americans, of course, have a different set of memories. And many of them are shaking their heads.