Gasoline prices are outrageously high these days, and Clark’s wife’s car eats more gas than almost any other on the road. We are pinched by what we are paying for in all forms of energy. Furthermore, we are not doing much to help the country become energy independent. We’ll get a big assist from corporate America, which is reducing the amount of energy they use. But oil will only make a small impact on the economy. Standard & Poor’s reports people are not as efficient as industry when it comes to using energy. The Federal Reserve will raise interest rates over the next year, but is likely to do so at a slow rate. This will counterbalance the harm we might suffer from the rising energy costs. Because oil prices fluctuate, we could end up with cheaper oil this year, but world demand for oil is rising in places like China, where the economy is growing. We must be attentive to fuel economy in this country. This includes making choices about how we heat our homes. We should go with higher efficiency heating models and buy cars that use less gasoline if we want to do our part.