Yes, they are an important issue. More important of an issue than, I would argue, most of the social-political issues I hear about day by day (such as abortion, religious debates, how idiotic Santorum and Romney are, etc.).
But I must stress that the topic of this thread is not, "which general political issue is most important?"
I have heard from reliable sources that gas prices, at least where I live, are projected to reach $5+ this summer.
This is total insanity. We (the U.S.) subsidize this industry and this is how the citizens are thanked. I remember the days when less than $10 would fill my tank, even if I got gas in a major city (such as where I live).
I don't know about anyone else, but I was raised to believe that the all power ultimately lies with those who are governed. In light of this, the citizens have two major responsibilities: to demand ethical treatment, and to do everything necessarily to ensure that such ethical treatment occurs.
The U.S. is a country that drives. No, that does not make us bad people, and no, bikes are not a sufficient and practical mode of transportation, unless everywhere you need to go is within a distance whose length in miles can be counted on a single hand, which is not the case with most people.
Additionally, the idea of drastically adjusting one's lifestyle so that he or she bikes or walks everywhere, all to accommodate the gas companies' decision to resort to arbitrary force in order to preserve their ability to buy one more yacht, is insulting to everyone who is not a gas company high roller.
Time to change things.
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Male-bodied pansexual and panromantic.
Your Aspie score: 130 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 90 of 200
You are very likely an Aspie
EQ Score: 37/100 ("low empathy")