Generation Opportunity today announced a new social media platform, the Facebook page "Gas Prices Are Too Damn High," with over 400,000 fans. The page provides a forum for young Americans hit hard by the rising cost of gasoline coupled with the financial stress caused by the poor economy and lack of economic opportunity, according to a news release. 

Why Gas Prices Are So High

Energy prices, oil, gasoline, natural gas, and electricity, have risen extensively over the past few years. The reasons for the upswing in costs are many and varied, and by all indications, prices will remain high.

How To Save Gas and Money

Since we are creatures of habit, and driving is just as much a habit as it is a necessity, it is extremely difficult for us to leave our cars in the garage and get where we want to go, or need to go, by other means. But now that gas has become so expensive, we may be forced to rethink the way we have to get where we are going and we are being forced to make changes to our driving habits.

Most people are trying

If you think gasoline is expensive now, just wait until next year: A combination of growing global demand and rising U.S. fuel exports could send gasoline prices to record highs in 2012, analysts say.

Could there actually be a silver lining on the storm cloud of high gas prices?

(Devil’s Advocate Post)

After reading about all the doom and gloom about $4, $5, or $6 gas prices, I’ve begun to see some positives, and not just changes in people’s behavior, or in learning how to hedge against high gas prices. Here’s what I see as the potential positives from high gas prices:

1. High gas prices are causing America to rethink it’s dependency on foreign oil. More than one person believes that our economic engine’s dependency on foreign oil is a potential threat to our national security since we import nearly 60 percent of the oil we depend on. Back in 1985, that number was 20 percent.

Regardless of what you think the solution is, whether drilling for more oil, scaling back our demand, or using every tip in the book to save gas, we have needed to reduce our dependence on foreign oil for several decades. These high gas prices are putting our dependence front and center on our minds.

2. High gas prices are causing people to drive slower to conserve fuel. What’s the positive here? Fewer highway deaths. According to an article in USA Today, there have been fewer highway deaths every month since October of 2007…just when the current run up in gas prices began in earnest.

3. High gas prices cause families to plan their summer vacations closer to home. As a result, families can discover the great attractions offered nearby. They will spend less time in transit and more time enjoying each other’s company as well as more time enjoying the attraction and their vacation.