The dollar-and-cents equation is one that anyone who fills up at the pump can understand.

The national average price for gasoline entering this week was $3.50 per gallon, according to AAA. That’s 64 cents – yes, 64 cents – higher than the same week a year ago. That’s $6.40 more for 10 gallons, or $35.00 total. That’s $12.80 more for 20 gallons, or a whopping $70.00 total. And so on.

At every gas station and convenience store in the Midland Empire, our bonds of common misery tighten as bankers and teachers and fry cooks all confront the same reality: Something has got to change.

The good news is that many individual acts still matter. Big problems often go wanting for a solution because it’s hard for people to see how they can make a difference. But that need not be the case with the gas price crisis.

The U.S. Department of Energy reports that gas prices have stayed above $3 a gallon since November, the longest period ever. And, in what surely is no coincidence, actual miles traveled and gas consumption declined over the same period.

If the pattern continues, 2008 could become the first year in more than 15 years that there has been a decline in gas consumption.

People are driving less for leisure. People are adopting new strategies including keeping their car engines tuned up, grouping their errands to save repeated trips, driving slower and more conservatively, carpooling, riding their bikes and taking the bus occasionally.

And, when they can, people are making the switch to hybrids, compacts or newer cars that offer better mileage. This trend will accelerate following the Bush administration announcement this week that it wants automakers to meet a fleet average of 31.6 mpg for new vehicles sold after 2015.

Many of our friends and neighbors don’t have a choice about driving to their employment. When carpooling is not an option, and switching jobs to something closer to home is unrealistic, these folks are pretty much stuck. But maybe they can use that time on the road to join the national movement and plot their revenge – a leisurely weekend bike ride on the parkway trails, and one less stop at the pump.