Gas prices are rising almost daily. Here, it's $4.10 a gal. I know it's higher in other parts of the world. The topic is for here in the US.
Even if we had plans to drill here and process the oil, we'd be looking at a few years before we see any gas.
If there were real alternative fuel plans in the works, the end result would still be years off.
Those two things don't happen overnight.

There are more areas in the Nation that have no mass transit and people have relied on driving to get to work. The lower middle, poverty and below poverty level people are the first to be affected.
If this situation is coming up on you fast, answer me some questions, please.

How high will it get and you can't afford to commute by driving?
What is your breaking point?
Do you have an alternate plan to commute?
Do you fear you will wind up on the street?

i'm only 10 minutes from my job, so, about a 15 - 20 mintue bike ride

I have a relatively short commute (4 mi. one way) and consider myself very lucky in that aspect. Gas would have to go up to $10/gallon I think before it would really affect me and make me think about alternative means of transportation.

Luckily I'm only about 12 miles from my job... but the gas prices are stopping me from going anywhere other than to and from work basically. I'm in the process of trying to find a part time job close to my home to help out. And I'm still in search of a used magic carpet in good condition...

It's pretty tight right now on my income..and if it gets much higher..I will be walking to work. I really don't like the idea of drilling for oil here, they've done enough damage to the globe as it is. I wish they could come up with some alternative that would be alot cheaper on everyone. Yes, I'm worried about being out on the street..but..I have a tent and a cookstove..so if worse comes to worse then guess I'm ready for whatever the economy throws at me..I won't curl up and die, I will just weather the storm the best way I can...

I live 6 blocks from work...so let me think of how much I'd consume if I actually DROVE it every day....

Hmm. Probably somewhere around $20 a gallon!

As long as it takes

"I wish they could come up with some alternative that would be alot cheaper on everyone."

Ain't gonna happen!! Oh, we'll slowly switch to alternatives, but it isn't likely to be cheaper.

Remember the gas 'shortage' in the '70s, and our president said that we need to look at alternative energy (other polititions have said the same thing over the years)....Well, there has been some advances made in solar energy, hydogen fuel cells and electric powered vehicles. Electric trucks were in use back in the thirties and forties, delivering milk.
So, we could have been driving electric powered vehicles for a long time. But we fell in love with the internal combustion engines.

Drill for domestic oil. Cut oil taxes, which will allow the oil companies to expand domestic operations, huge new employment opportunities, and great investments into alternative sources of energy as they've been researching for decades now. I forget what company it was, but one company alone had invested 100 billion thus far into alternative energies since the '70s.

probably start looking for an apartment closer to my job

I think that's what I would do if I had a longer commute. I wonder if a lot of people will be doing something like this.