>> Not a problem. High gasoline prices are good for the environment.
> Only if people change their driving habits accordingly, and I know very few people who have actually altered their lifestyle
That sounds then like gas prices aren't high enough to drive the behavior change to the extent needed. $4 a gallon gas changed some habits. $10 a gallon would drive even further behavior change.
What sort of behaviour change are you after, though?
It's all very well saying petrol prices should go up to help the environment, but the people hit hardest are those in rural areas. Should everyone go and rent a city centre apartment and give up on the countryside because they can't afford to get about?
If they can't afford to get about with a doubling or tripling of gas price, they probably wouldn't be able to afford to move to the city center either.
A square foot of housing in the city center is much higher priced than a square foot in a rural area. Ditto (but to an even greater extent) for land prices. Doubling/tripling the price of gas still wouldn't make it advantageous cost-wise to move from a 3000 sq ft/280 sq meters residence in the countryside to that same square footage in the city, at least not in Cambridge/Boston from say a rural or suburban area on 128 (the ring road). (And this would be even more pronounced once energy tax policy made city property more valuable than rural property.)
To whatever extent that I am after change, I'm after change that taxes energy consumption with the aim to discourage wasteful or "frivolous" use of energy. One or two people living in a 5000 sq ft McMansion? Wasteful, IMO. They shouldn't be barred from doing it, but I don't mind if their energy is taxed to discourage it. Same with my cars, airplane, or 2400 sq ft house for the 3 of us. I think that economic [dis]incentive and personal choices given that landscape is the most fair means to allow people to decide what's important to them and act accordingly.
Should we ban cars older than 5 years, or 10 years from now ban non-electrics, or mandate that you can only have 600 sq ft + 400 sq ft/person, mandate thermostat settings, insulation retrofits to existing buildings, etc? Absolutely not; just adjust the energy rates until you get approximately the macro effect you want, and people will make choices within that framework.
For the record, I'm not strongly advocating that we should triple energy cost via taxation, merely observing that small behavior changes came about from $4 a gallon gas, and that larger changes would come from $10/gal pricing. On that point, I strongly suspect you and I agree.
My only point is that I hear a lot on the news and from people I associate with about how gas prices are too high, and they tend to blame it on the government or on corruption. We hear all this talk of America's 'dependence on foreign oil', but very few individuals stop and ask themselves why that all is.
The behavioural change I'd like to see, is for people's reaction to high prices be "well I'm not going to buy gasoline, then". Granted, gasoline is almost a necessity in some situations. But if people really did care about their dependence on oil and the high prices, they wouldn't use it for non-necessities. If that happened, OPEC would get the message REAL fast.
edit: So for instance - you mention that those who live in rural areas shouldn't have to rent city center apartments just to get around. Well... everyone I know who lives in the city (downtown) own cars and drive them everywhere. I'd like to see more people question each trip and say, "do I really need to take the car?" I walk to the grocery store, and it only takes me a 1/2 hour, if that. Most people would take the car, but hey - I don't ever have to pay for gasoline unless I go out of town.
And I'm not talking about disabled people, or delivery companies. I'm talking about the average person - if they want to complain about high prices and government corruption - they should walk. It'd solve the obesity epidemic, too.
Disclaimer: I live in Europe and do not own a car. Instead of walking to the grocery store, I usually use the streetcar or a bike. If you have to feed a family, it be more convenient to use a car for your groceries, since you can load so much more onto it than on a bike or on your back. Though, I know a family that only rents a car for going on vacation, so you can make it work.
And people always like to complain, no matter what.
> Only if people change their driving habits accordingly, and I know very few people who have actually altered their lifestyle
That sounds then like gas prices aren't high enough to drive the behavior change to the extent needed. $4 a gallon gas changed some habits. $10 a gallon would drive even further behavior change.