U.S. candidates react to higher energy costs

By Andrea Hopkins and Timothy Gardner - Analysis

CINCINNATI/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans are finally reacting to record gasoline prices by shunning SUVs, driving less and even debating drilling off the coasts of Florida and California.

And in an election year dominated by economic concerns, the two U.S. presidential candidates are pumping out proposals to cut back the oil habit of the world's largest fuel consumer.

But those plans -- from Democrat Barack Obama's emphasis on biofuels to Republican John McCain's push for more drilling and higher tax breaks for zero-emission cars -- could take a decade to lower gas prices.

Talk of eventual change is cheap, with neither candidate wanting to risk alienating voters, said George Philippidis, energy policy professor at Florida International University.

"There's a lot of lip service now," he said. "I don't see anything happening until well after the election. And by then, who knows what the price of oil will be?"

The lack of ideas to control short-term costs and the time needed to bring new technologies to market mean drivers may need to get used to high prices at the pumps, regardless of who is in the White House after November's election.

"Let's not kid ourselves," said Joel Darmstadter, a fellow at the Washington think tank Resources for the Future. "If you're talking about zero emissions, you're not talking about what's on the assembly line."

CUTTING BACK

Already, poll after poll shows change is being driven by consumers, not politicians.

More than half of Americans intend to drive less and 74 percent support drilling for oil in U.S. coastal waters, according to recent polls by Zogby International.

For the first time since the 1970s and early 1980s, the number of miles driven by Americans has begun trending downward and gasoline demand may have peaked, Cambridge Energy Research Associates said in a report last week.

"We're certainly seeing behavioural changes at $4 (2 pounds) a gallon that we did not see at $2 and $3 a gallon," said Samantha Gross, associate director of the consulting firm.

Sales of sport utility vehicles, minivans and pickup trucks fell below 50 percent of new vehicle sales this year for the first time since 2001. Ford and General Motors plan to shut truck plants and boost production of fuel-efficient cars.

The energy-hungry United States consumes some 7.5 billion barrels of oil a year, including about 9.3 million barrels per day of gasoline.

With oil doubling in the past year to nearly $140 a barrel, that suddenly has Americans talking about conservation, more fuel-efficient cars, nuclear energy, ethanol production, wind and solar power, and drilling in the Arctic or Gulf of Mexico.