George Will points out why we should just stop whining about the cost of gasoline:

Since the oil shocks of the 1970s, when the price of oil went from $1.80 a barrel in January 1970 ($9.80 in today's dollars) to $28.91 in December 1979 ($71.88 in today's dollars), the economy has become much more energy-efficient. Total energy consumption per dollar of gross domestic product has been cut almost in half since 1973.

But in America, every pleasure quickly becomes an entitlement, so Americans regard as a civil-rights outrage the fact that today's relatively low price of a gallon of gasoline—relative to prices in other years—is 67.5 cents higher than last year's very low price. Americans relish the pleasure of self-pity, so only a spoilsport will mention that since 1980 the share of consumer spending that goes for energy has declined from 9 percent to 6 percent.