“Despite the higher price of gasoline that we see today, it is still the cheapest fuel,” says Dr. Walden, a specialist with North Carolina Cooperative Extension. “Now, that said, some people say that gasoline is actually underpriced because it doesn’t account for the cost of pollution that is created when we use gasoline and also the national security implications.

“And some say that what we need to do to make energy alternatives more attractive is perhaps to add maybe $1 or $1.50 in an additional tax per gallon of gasoline.

“But even if we did that even if we did that, the estimates are that it would reduce our importing oil only 15 percent,” Walden adds.

“So we are not going to end our use of foreign oil anytime soon,” he concludes. “It’s going to be a very long-run proposition.”