Now that some people are predicting the price of gas may close in on $4 a gallon, we might reflect on what might have been done about this years ago and what, if anything, we could be doing now.

Considering that we still don't have a suitable alternative to oil as a fuel and industrial raw material, we might have been better off if Congress or the states had not, for the last few decades, precluded exploration along the continental shelves.

We might have slightly more ample world supplies of oil if, years ago, exploratory drilling had been allowed along part of the North Slope of Alaska where it is now prohibited.

We might also be better off if our land-use pattern had developed in a different way. If we lived closer together, many more of us would be able to walk to work and to the store. And most of our driving would be done on weekends in search of recreation, although with enough foresight and planning even that might be found within walking distance.

In any case, think of how much gas we'd save if we didn't put 20 or 30 miles on the odometer just in the course of the daily routine.

Since the past can't be altered, what can we do now? We can still try to save gas by driving less.

We can combine trips. Instead of making two or three runs during the day, we can make one.

In the newsroom at the Democrat-Herald, some of the more enterprising staffers don't often drive to lunch. Instead they bring something to eat from home or from a store, and at lunchtime they go for a walk. They burn calories instead of fuel.

For most people, of course, choices made long ago - such as where and how to live - have them locked in to a certain amount of fuel consumption no matter what it costs. For them the only solution is long-term: They'll want to be thinking about how they can cut their fuel bills without completely withdrawing from work and a normal life, perhaps by getting a smaller vehicle or moving closer to where they have to be.

The price of gas is controlled by many factors over which we as individuals have no immediate control. The only thing we can try to do is to buy less. It's not the most pleasant alternative, but it's the only one we have. (hh)