$20 Per Gallon? Say it Ain’t So.

A recent New York Times interview with Chris Steiner, author of the new book $20 Per Gallon, has caused a bit of a stir in the blogosphere. Andrew Sullivan buys into Steiner’s argument that higher gas prices could jump start innovation and be, on balance, a good thing, while Outside the Beltway’s James Joyner thinks that $20 per gallon “would really, really suck”:

Now, it’s quite conceivable that the forced innovation would indeed make our lives better in ways that I can’t imagine ... But the transitional impact would be absolutely devastating for most people. Even Steiner admits that whole industries—from airlines to amusement parks to sushi restaurants—would go under. Almost all homes outside urban centers would be simultaneously unlivable and unsellable. Only the independently wealthy would be able to travel abroad. Essentially, we’d set our lifestyles back a hundred years.

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